9. Mount Points

In designing the disk layout it is important not to split off the directory tree structure at the wrong points, hence this section. As it is highly dependent on the FSSTND it has been put aside in a separate section, and will most likely have to be totally rewritten when FHS is adopted in a Linux distribution. In the meanwhile this will do.

Remember that this is a list of where a separation can take place, not where it has to be. As always, good judgement is always required.

Again only a rough indication can be given here. The values indicate

0=don't separate here
1=not recommended
 ...
4=useful
5=recommended

In order to keep the list short, the uninteresting parts are removed.

Directory   Suitability
/ 
|
+-bin       0
+-boot      0
+-dev       0
+-etc       0
+-home      5
+-lib       0
+-mnt       0
+-proc      0
+-root      0
+-sbin      0
+-tmp       5
+-usr       5
| \
| +-X11R6     3
| +-bin       3
| +-lib       4
| +-local     4
| | \
| | +bin        2
| | +lib        4
| +-src       3
|
+-var       5
  \
  +-adm       0
  +-lib       2
  +-lock      1
  +-log       0
  +-preserve  1
  +-run       1
  +-spool     4
  | \
  | +-mail      3
  | +-mqueue    3
  | +-news      5
  | +-smail     3
  | +-uucp      3
  +-tmp       5

There is of course plenty of adjustments possible, for instance a home user would not bother with splitting off the /var/spool hierarchy but a serious ISP should. The key here is usage.

QUIZ! Why should /etc never be on a separate partition? Answer: Mounting instructions during boot is found in the file /etc/fstab so if this is on a separate and unmounted partition it is like the key to a locked drawer is inside that drawer, a hopeless situation. (Yes, I'll do nearly anything to liven up this HOWTO.)