Stage One: The Base Installation

91

Use this tool to create at least one Linux partition and, unless circumstances

get in the way, a swap partition. With a 24 MB swap partition, and 8 MB

of RAM, a 486 will compile a kernel without running out of virtual memory.

However, when compiling very large packages, 24 MB is nowhere near enough,

even on a Pentium, with 16 MB of memory. However, with 16 MB, a 48 MB

swap partition becomes quite adequate. From this it can be seen that deciding

on the size of the swap partition isn't really a simple formula. Depending on

the tasks the system is expected to perform, the formula will be different for

each configuration.

When Partition a Hard Disk is selected, the following dialogue box is pre 

sented:

Screen 6: Select Disk Drive.

Note that this machine has only one physical drive installed. In this example

the choice is trivial, selecting /dev/hda.