I'm currently using CachyOS but may switch to NixOS, Gentoo, or other distributions in the future. Because I share a monthly data limit with other people, repeatedly downloading my games isn't practical. I also change distributions fairly often, so I'd like a setup that makes future reinstalls easier. Would it work to keep my games and other important files on a separate partition while installing each new distribution on another partition?
3 Answers
The important part is separating the game files from the operating system rather than relying only on /home. You could create a dedicated games partition or put the Steam library on another drive, then mount it after each installation. Keep personal files and configuration backups as well, since a fresh distribution may still require applications to be configured again.
You can also store your Steam library on a separate internal or external drive. After installing the new distribution, install Steam and add the existing library folder in its settings. Steam should detect the installed games instead of downloading them again, although you may need to reinstall or verify the launcher and dependencies.
Yes. A common setup is to keep the operating system on one partition and use a separate partition for /home. Back up your files first, then perform a custom installation with roughly 50 GB for the root (/) partition and the remaining space for /home. During later installations, select the existing /home partition, mount it as /home, and make sure the installer does not format it. Your personal files and many application settings will remain available while the new system is installed on the root partition.
It’s still wise to keep a separate backup. Reusing /home across different distributions can sometimes cause problems if applications have incompatible configuration files.
An external drive is especially convenient if you reinstall often, but make sure it uses a filesystem Linux can access reliably and always keep important files backed up.