Re: [gentoo-user] newbie install - emerge: command not found

[Neil Bothwick <neil@digimed.co.uk>]

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On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 10:32:00 +0200, Assaf Urieli wrote:

> In fact, I'm not even quite sure that I understand the whole concept of
> mounting...
> When I type:
> # mount -t ext3 /dev/hda3 /mnt/gentoo
> Does the /mnt/gentoo directory already exist somewhere? If it didn't, I
> imagine this statement would throw an error. But where can it exist if
> it isn't yet associated with any partition (i.e. /dev/hda3)?

It must exist, and it exists as a normal directory within /mnt.

> # mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot
> Where am I making this directory? I would assume this statement creates
> the directory on /dev/hda3. But then, in the next statement, I'm
> associating it with /dev/hda4!

You are creating it in whatever filesystem contains /mnt/gentoo. At this
point, it is simply an empty directory in that filesystem. Only when you
mount it does it have any content.

Actually, a mount point can have content of its own, which becomes
invisible when another filesystem is mounted on it. For
example, in Gentoo /mnt/cdrom normally contains a single file
called .keep, which you no longer see when you mount a CD, you see the
contents of that disc instead. When you unmount the CD, the underlying
directory becomes visible again and you can see .keep.

> Now that I've got an unused /dev/hda4 partition, what should I mount on
> it? I can't mount /usr onto it cause /usr already exists on the root
> partition & is full of stuff. Can I just invent any old name for
> mounting (like say, /home), and then use it for storing data?

Yes, and you could also mount /usr on it. 

mkdir /mnt/tmp
mount /dev/hda4 /mnt/tmp
rsync -a /usr/ /mnt/tmp/
umount /mnt/tmp
mount /dev/hda4 /usr
mount --bind / /mnt/tmp
rm -fr /mnt/tmp/usr/*
umount /mnt/tmp


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Due to inflation, all clouds will now be lined with zinc.

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