install different distro's on 2 10gb drives, dual boot, no windows, xandros and vector...dazed and confused

From: dave (tool_box_at_weirdstuffcox.net)
Date: 03/29/05 

Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 12:02:35 -0500

got an old clunker box with 512 RAM and a celeron 633, it has two ide
hard drives, each 10 gb. both drives were 'wiped' before I got 'em
(using what I have no clue). so no data or "format" exists to save on
either :-), and no windows wanted on the box on either drive. all the
above 'seen' by the bios. install one distro per drive, ay?

I'd like to install "xandros 301 OC" on one and "vector linux 501 soho"
on the other, dual boot (using I guess LILO?). would it be practical to
have them share a common 'scratch' partition? more importantly, would
either distro's "CD/iso installer disk" even give me the capability to
set it up that way, ANYdernway? I mean would their 'partitioning
function' even be capable of sticking different partitions on more than
one drive? if not, is there a linux partitioning app that'll boot and
run from a CD I can use (maybe?) to achieve this? or maybe that'd boot
from a floppy :-/ even?

anyone care to recommended partition types and sizes for "Mr Newbie"
here? scratch/root/home, too many? not enough? how's a guy elect a file
system, anyway, or will I be even given a choice<s> on the
CD/installers? I read ReiserFS is "groovey" these days, right? <not sure
'groovey' is the correct term :->

compounding the confusion, I find there's no 'standard' or even
"generally held" belief regarding partition types and sizes recommended
for general users on a drive of a given size, like by 'percentage of
drivespace total' or by any other criteria? eg: if I elect (or even
"could elect") to use a gig for scratch space per drive (twice my ram),
I'd have effectively "killed" 10 percent of my drivespace, right?...some
sites say use same size scratchspace as RAM you have, others say twice
that, and still others 3X...so, "max confsuion" is starting his visit
here...

both iso's checksums good on the distro's above and they're already
burned, ready to install (but I'm still kinda baffled here)

thanks for education and clues,

tool

if this isn't enough questions: are grub AND LILO both offered on both
iso/installers? or on either?

Relevant Pages

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