r/voidlinux 10d ago

How much disk space is enough???

I want to install void on my schools computer. And i would be using dual boot so id like to use as little space as possible so that the missing space is not noticeable so how much space should i alloctae to void while the system being usable with things like a wm (might be hyprland and could try something new), a web browser, some other things like compilers, editors (which will prolly end up being just vim so not so impt).

5 Upvotes

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u/Runt1m3_ 10d ago edited 9d ago

Don't mess with school hardware dude, you'll get into a big problem or make your parents pay for the "repairs" lol, even if you somehow manage to install it in a separate partition using like 32gb which is usable you'll still run into issues with secure boot, bootloader (grub or windows bootloader saying boot to Windows or Void Linux) - and if you try to resize the partitions to install Void it will last HOURS if not an entire day even on modern low-mid range hardware to actually shrink the NTFS partition and even then data corruption is still a huge posibility. Or if the school uses something more than secure boot you'll end up screwing the PC's boot stuff.

If you're using Windows 10+ you can use WSL, since it's a built in windows service you only have to install a distro in the userspace side. Don't know about Void Linux but when i used Debian and Ubuntu under wsl everything including X11 stuff worked fine a few years ago. If the computers have virtualization enabled you can use something like QEMU.

If you're lucky you can get soon to be discarded hardware from your school, like a chromebook/laptop or an old desktop PC and if they aren't locked you may do whatever you like with their OS

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u/WorldTallNetCat 10d ago

Most of the computers there already have some form of linux running which is likely installed by other students. I dont wanna fully wipe out windows as it will result in some student not being able to use the system and the it staff wiping it to install win. But i did try void on a vm on qemu and it took me like 10 mins given i used the installer and copied the files from iso.

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u/ComplexPeace43 10d ago

The minimum space you need depends on a few things. Take a look here: https://docs.voidlinux.org/installation/live-images/partitions.html

Setting aside say 300MB to EFI and say 4GB for swap assuming you have 16GB RAM, I’d say for your use case even 10-12GB should be enough as a bare minimum.

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u/WorldTallNetCat 10d ago

So a 20GB is enough with swap and all?

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u/Blank-Inspection13 9d ago

For just install it's enough , there will still some space left .
Except you''ll willing to purging the cache often, 20 Gigs will be used up rapidly if you use that for browsing heavily - safe Amount probably around 25-30 Gigs .

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u/WorldTallNetCat 8d ago

Will keep in mind

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u/Simple_Hamster_4096 10d ago

Install on a computer you legally own. Don't install Linux on a computer which is the property of your school.

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u/BinkReddit 10d ago

If you install it on a virtual machine you'll have your exact answer.

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u/WorldTallNetCat 10d ago

I did intsall it on qemu with 5gb space. But its just the tty and no actual software just for testing the installer.

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u/BinkReddit 10d ago

Install the software you plan to install as well; this will give you the exact minimum amount of space you require.

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u/WorldTallNetCat 10d ago

Ig thats a good way to go about it.

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u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 10d ago

My 3x Void installs 4.1GB, 40.2GB, & 239GB.

It really depends on what you install.

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u/WorldTallNetCat 10d ago

For things a like wm, web browser and minimal tools like terminal, compilers(mostly clang and all) how much do u recon id need.

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u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 10d ago

Its really hard to predict what another user will need.

40GB would probably be enough with minimal data. maybe 20 if you really watch what you install and store.

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u/GhostVlvin 9d ago

It is never.., IT IS NEVER ENOUGH
Ehem..
I think that 20GB will be plenty for your needs

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u/WorldTallNetCat 9d ago

Yeah I kind of feel that. I have arch on my laptop with windows dual booted. I have almost 300gb plus and it doesnt feel enough for personal use.

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u/GhostVlvin 9d ago

Actually until downloading movies and tv series I am fully satisfied by 1TB drive

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u/WorldTallNetCat 9d ago

My drive is mostly filled due to different packages and i have folder worth like 50Gb of code

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u/GhostVlvin 9d ago

I sometimes move my Code folder on a 8GB usb stick and I do
sh rm Code/**/{.venv,venv,node_modules,.cache,build}

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u/WorldTallNetCat 9d ago

I have like 70gb of code. I checked. And actual code is prolly like 20gb. But all the libraries and depedencies got me there.

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u/GhostVlvin 9d ago

Wow. Having 20GB of code is strong. But there are really too many dependencies nowadays. On C/C++ it is enough to clone light library having megabytes of code at most. Of all modern languages I guess only rust and go manage dependencies properly. One library installed at home instead of duplicate for each project

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u/WorldTallNetCat 9d ago

Thats just my estimation. I am sure it is prolly less and it consists of few code bases that multiple people have worked on through few years.

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u/profeshamat 2d ago

Regardless of distro I tend to go with a 128MB /boot/efi partition, 8GB swap, 50GB /, and the remainder of the disk for /home.