Kimmo H?m?l?inen wrote: > On Mon, 2006-06-12 at 22:28, ext Adrian Neumaier wrote: >> Am Montag, 12. Juni 2006 21:22 schrieb Armin M. Warda: >>> On Monday 12 June 2006 17:24, Kimmo H?m?l?inen wrote: >>>> [...] There are of >>>> course some obvious problems with a separate partition. (Some of >>>> the complications could be difficult to understand by a non-geek >>>> user.) >>> I suspect there might be some geek users on this list... >>> Please explain, what are the obvious problems with a >>> separate partition? Thanks! >> I second that, i would like to know that too. I can't figure one, apart from >> swapoff the partition before removing the card. > > There are some issues caused by partition vs. file concept. For example, > removing and creating a file is simpler and safer than repartitioning. > The non-geek user would need to understand the concept of partitions: > > - the swap partition is not usable in any other device the user has > (non-geeks often don't use Linux) > > - the swap partition will look funny in Windows Explorer (maybe the user > reformats it there and stores files there, then wonders why they are not > shown in the Nokia 770). > > - other devices, such as Nokia mobile phones would not probably support > repartitioning the memory card. (Even Windows does not make very easy.) > > I cannot think more right now (I have other things to do, as well). But > if you can think of _so_ many benefits that this swap partition brings > to the user, I'll reconsider in future products :) It is very difficult resizing partitions once they're created, so the choice of a swap file is a sound choice. Files can be created, removed and resized easily without negative consequences for the rest of the system. If you try to grow a partition you might have to shrink another, and hence you'll risk losing all data on that partition if something goes wrong. -- Ren? Seindal (rene at seindal.dk)
