ok I have my original install with user, now...

[largegroh]

i want to have places to test things without messing up my orginal.. i have created test and testgames as two new users. is there a way to have fully working linux systems in each/for each so that nothing that i do for those users will affect the orginal? if so, how?

[polemicz]

If you have plenty of disk space you can boot into many separate linuxes, but if you just want a number of different users to access the same linux system (kernel, apps, and system configs) then you only need to add users and make sure they cannot access other users files. The basic question you need to ask is what each user will be doing and what they can use and can't. All linux files have permissions and those will determine what a user can do.

[largegroh]

so you are saying that the only way i can have a way to try stuff out and still protect my orginal install is to install a second time? or third time? I thought for sure i had read about a way to have a second/thrid user to try stuff without affecting orginal. i must be going senile.

 

[polemicz]

It depends on what you mean by try things out. State clearly what different things you want to try out. If it is different kernels you will need to have a multiboot system, which is no big deal. If it is different desktop environments that can be handled at login. So be clear as to what you want to try out, that will determine how you go about doing it.

[largegroh]

sorry. what I mean is install wineX and try a windows game without messing up my orginal mandrake. or perhaps, install some software without messing up my orginal install. In otherwords, have a user area(s) to try out these types of things without any worry about having to start all over with my current mandrake install because of crashing withl my experimenting.

 

what I read before, or thought I read since I can't find it again, said something about cloning or replicating my current setup over to the new users. I may be way off base here. since I know very little abut what I am talking about I am probably just wrong.

[polemicz]

If it's just something like Wine you can easily add a user and login as that user. That user will have all the user config files for Wine, etc in his/her home directory. If you have a number of users who will share certain files you can put them all in a group whose members share those files. But just because you crash something doesn't mean you will hose your Linux system. If you are worried about installing something that may wreck your whole system then you should go to multi-boot, but just installing Wine and running Windows games should not do that. Maybe someone who is into WineX and games can give better advice. Check out the emulation forum or post there with a question.

[largegroh]

ok thx

[kristi]

If it's just something like Wine you can easily add a user and login as that user. That user will have all the user config files for Wine, etc in his/her home directory. If you have a number of users who will share certain files you can put them all in a group whose members share those files. But just because you crash something doesn't mean you will hose your Linux system. If you are worried about installing something that may wreck your whole system then you should go to multi-boot, but just installing Wine and running Windows games should not do that. Maybe someone who is into WineX and games can give better advice. Check out the emulation forum or post there with a question.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Trying to follow this... Are you saying add another user(MCC, System, Users, ADD USER) , and install wine to that user, or, I guess wine would wind up being installed to the system, but only used by that new user(?) - yeah, be logged in to that second user any time you use wine. (?)

tia!

Kristi