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From: Douglas Mayne 
Newsgroups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk,alt.os.linux.ubuntu,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: I would like to dual boot ubunt with feather.
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Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:46:32 -0700
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On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:56:49 -0600, noalternative wrote:

> On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:45:16 -0500, Meat Plow wrote:
> 
>> On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 06:07:58 -0600, noalternative wrote:
>> 
>>> I already have Ubuntu dapper drake installed on my computers hard-drive,
>>> but I would like to add feather Linux.  Is it possible to re-size the
>>> partition, without hurting Ubuntu? Will grub recognize the other Linux
>>> have installed?
>> 
>> Yes and yes.
> 
> How do I do that?
> 
Very carefully. It helps a lot if you have had some practice with grub, so
that you know what to expect. Surprises are no fun. Also, making
changes to your partition table relies on the fact that you know the
basic rules of partitioning in the PC world. You may have missed this
because a lot of the GNU/Linux distibutions hide these technical
details (i.e. take care of them for you) when you first setup. It only
becomes obvious and an issue when you want to make changes from the
default, or reallocate space as you are thinking of doing. It is wise to
backup before starting, that is, if you have anything you cannot easily
recreate.

Advice:
0. Backup.
1. Review the documentation and background information. 
2. Plan your partitioning layout on paper
 a. Allocate adequate space for each partition according to its intended
 use.
 b. Consider your boot strategy. The grub loader can be thought of as a
 mini-OS whose job is to load other OSs.
3. Execute your plan, using your design on paper as a checklist.

Tools:
Parted appears to be a popular tool for resizing partitions. But, I would
probably opt for backing up, erasing, and restoring to a smaller partition.

Related information online:
Instead of repeating my answer to this FAQ, I'll refer you to the
official documentation, and to all of the posts on these threads:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.misc/msg/75368ec45a590e60?hl=en&
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.misc/msg/40ef496986dd65cf?hl=en&

Other misc. comments:
Ignore advice on the above threads for setting up a dual boot
system with Windows. The general concepts are very similar. Basically,
each OS will be happy if it is given its own isolated place to "live." 

You can mount the partitions assigned to other OSs, that is, if the
running OS recognizes its filesystem that it is using. This is an area for
caution, though- you want to keep each as isolated from each other as
necessary. Sharing data directories is usually no problem.

-- 
Douglas Mayne
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