Disk partitioning and swap

[mikebw at bilow.bilow.uu.ids.net (Mike Bilow)]

Jerry Feldman {75562} wrote in a message to Mike Bilow:

 JF{> The /var file system is constandly changing. It normally 
 JF{> contains /var/tmp /var/spool, neither of which need to be 
 JF{> preserved for any length of time.

The /var tree is so named because it varies on each machine, not because it
changes frequently.  That is, it is common in many installations to have /usr
mounted from some remote source using NFS.  This is also why /bin and /sbin are
different from /usr/bin and /usr/sbin, since /usr is not accessible until the
network is up and may go inaccessible in the event of network errors. 
Obviously, things such as /var/lock would result in disastrous consequences if
they could be shared among machines.  On most systems, /usr/tmp and /usr/spool
are simply symlinks to /var/tmp and /var/spool, respectively, for performance.
 
-- Mike


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