I just got a new laptop and installed Linux on it. I mainly run OpenSUSE.
Getting full encryption on both was a bit of a challenge and I had no idea what I’m doing. Will having the swap partition in the middle break things? Did I really need so many partitions (Mint and OpenSUSE don’t show up in eachother’s boot menu)?
I’m probably not gonna change this layout (because reinstallation seems like a pain) unless the swap partition’s position is a problem. I’m just curious how many mistakes I made.
EDIT: I’m not upgrading my drive capacity. I do not need it.
Never more in my life have I wanted to send a stranger a larger hard drive.
nuke it 😎
I think the partitioning itself is fine, but I wouldn’t have 3 operating systems on a 256 GB NVMe, because I’d be running out of space a lot.
if you won’t ever use Windows, you can nuke it. Then I’d consider making one of the Linux ones a VM - if you’re trying out that distro. That will cut down 12 partitions to 5.
Lastly, you can look into btrfs to make better use of space between (the current) p11 and p12: you can make them subvolumes that won’t eat up each other’s storage when not in use.
I’m only have about 20GB of files so I think I’ll be fine on space.
I’m keeping Windows 11 around in case I need it for … IDK taxes (though I don’t have secureboot enabled because [points to image above]). A VM won’t work for the Mint one, I need it separate for reasons I won’t go into.
Btrfs was installed in default but I only know how to do full-disk encryption on ext4. Apparently btrfs doesn’t have built-in support for it. I really liked how it was neatly organized into subvolumes but alas.
Tax software is basically all in browser at this point.
I’m an accounting graduate, so yes. Most things should be in a browser really, since generally a webpage can’t give you malware.
Why keep the windows partition if you don’t use it?
I really don’t think 60 GB will be enough for daily use unless you have your home folder on a separate drive, which it doesn’t seem is the case from your screenshot.
I have mine on a separate drive and my system partition (150 GB) is half-full. Is there a reason for your 25 GB per Linux installation rule?
25GB is what Ubuntu says is the minimum, and I’m extrapolating that to all distros. Windows says 64GB. I’d be surprised if I need more than 64GB per Linux install with just software installs.
Minimum is just an indicator of what will actually work, but it’s not gonna last.
I would create another couple of efi partitions, just to confuse attackers more
On a more serious note, as others have said, you’ll probably burn through these weird storage limitations quickly.
Also, what do you mean by “sensitive matters” on Mint? Because almost any way you spin it, I feel like it’s not a great idea:
- If you’re talking professional, confidential work with clients, keeping it on the same device where you do anything personal sounds like a terrible idea, and it’s probably worth it to shell out for a dedicated device just for this.
- If it’s more personal things like government documents, medical records, and other things I’ll neglect to name here, running a separate operating system just for those just feels like unnecessary paranoia and will cause you unnecessary trouble. If you’re careful, it shouldn’t be a problem - the major browsers prevent file access through protections against cross-site scripting.
Also, as I said in another comment here, please upgrade that drive before you put a lot of data on it. If you don’t and you run out of storage later (a near-certainty on 256GB), you’ll have to go through the effort of getting everything copied, which may include equipment purchases and several hours of your time when you could jut do it right now while your important files are still small enough to fit on a flash drive right now. Save yourself the future trouble.
Anyhow, I wish you happy Linux usage.
Why don’t you delete windows
I am afraid that in the future something I need will require Windows 11. Whether that be interacting with the government or maybe if I go back to university.
Can’t speak to your exact machine but nowadays the license tends to be tied to the hardware.
If you are capable of manual partitioning then you should be able to reinstall Windows quickly if needed.
VM might be enough
Depends whether they’ll start using TPM in combination with kernel-level anti-cheat to ensure you don’t use AI in an exam or something. I don’t know what the future holds and barely understand what a TPM does.
Why would they require TPM??? Or kernel level anti cheat? This isn’t a game.
I recommend that you take a look at LVM. It can help you manage your partitions without much planning beforehand.
I’m averse to installing things that don’t come with my distro. More software means more risk of a malicious update (which is the greatest security threat I face). Also seems a bit hacky so I’d be worried it’d cause instability. Plus I’m just not that technical.
