I'm in the process of dual booting Linux Mint and Arch on my 512GB SSD. I'm starting with Linux Mint for partitioning since it's simpler. My plan is to allocate around 200GB for Mint and leave the remainder for Arch.
I would love some guidance on which mount points I should keep separate and which, if any, can be shared between the two operating systems. For example, I've heard that swap space can be shared, but what about shared storage for files? I'm considering designating 100-128GB as shared storage to sync files between both OSs. Any advice?
3 Answers
If you're sharing partitions, make sure to keep the UIDs consistent between both systems so that each OS can access the shared files without issues. The first non-root user on both systems typically gets a UID of 1000, so it's crucial that stays the same for shared folders.
Just a heads up about the EFI system partition (ESP). Since Arch prefers to mount the ESP to /boot, while Mint might use /boot/efi for the bootloader, you'll want to check what's in the ESP after installing Mint. If Mint only has the bootloader, go ahead and install Arch, but skip installing a new bootloader. Instead, you'll configure GRUB from Mint to recognize Arch. This keeps everything organized and reduces the risk of boot issues.
I recommend keeping your partitions separate, but you can definitely use the shared partition for syncing files. A shared home directory might also work, but be cautious since Arch updates rapidly, which could lead to compatibility issues down the line. Use the shared partition for your personal folders like Documents and Downloads, and mount them in each OS's home directory. That should make things smoother, although you might run into a few hiccups if software versions change too much.
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