🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <40jssh$dpi@canton.charm.net> pdemario@charm.net (Philip G. DeMario) writes:

   I recently browsed a book that came with a CD ROM of Slackware Linux - it 
   claimed I didn't have to partition my hard drive to install the 
   particular flavor of Linux.  Could this be true?  If so what are the 
   disadvantages of not partitioning?

It is true: linux can mount a fragment of a DOS disk as its root disk.
To DOS, these files look just like a strange directory hierarchy (Say C:\LINUX\...)
Under Linux, you see them as your root disk, i.e. file C:\LINUX\ETC\HOSTS will 
be /etc/hosts. The disadvantage is that DOS file system design stinks 
performance-wise. 

There is an alternative: you can de-fragment your disk under DOS to move them
towards the beginning of a partition, and split the partition using the FIPS
program: you will get a shrunk DOS partition in the beginning of the disk,
and the new partition can be used for Linux. If you use weird disk drivers
or remap sectors, this could screw up your DOS though.
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			przemek klosowski (przemek@nist.gov)
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