Originally Posted by Googleness Originally Posted by

I'm using Windows 10 for some time now and latest updates caused me a lot of trouble. I decided to reinstall Ubuntu on my main machine instead for more stability and less headaches.



It was some time since I've used a Linux distro as main OS I usually play around VMs and past year I've gained number of Microsoft based Certifications, so I'm bit rusted on linux department.



I plan to install Ubuntu 17.04 and I've got some planning to do first,



My system spec:

Intel Core i7 4790K

32.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3

ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. MAXIMUS VII RANGER

Asus Strix NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NS70

Storage:

2794GB Seagate ST3000DM001-1ER166 (SATA)

223GB Corsair Force LS SSD (SSD)

223GB Corsair Force LS SSD (SSD)

- Also using a keyboard and mice from company called speedlink which only the mice requires a driver in order to program it. (Decus & Rapax).

- Asus Generic BT dongle

- only piece of hardware which might cause trouble (maybe) is usb Analog-to-Digital Adapter which I use to convert VHS tapes to video files - not very friendly to use but we might get around it.



My general use is on first SSD I install the OS itself, on the large 3TB HDD I dump all my data (so called /home) and on the second SSD (in windows at least) I install some video games or place important VM disk files which I want to boost their speed.

I also got 2TB external (USB3) HDD which I use with robocopy script to backup my /home equivalent area on the 3TB disk (I cherry pick certain paths to backup and robocopy just update the external hdd to mirror the local hdd state).



So questions,

1. I understand with Ubuntu 17.04 Swap is no longer needed and it is a file based now?

2. Which file system I should use?

- Does EXT4 still the way to go?

- My external backup drive uses NTFS right now, should I use EXT4 as well for it ? any beneficial external drive FS when using linux distro as main os?

3. Can I choose location when installing games\apps etc so I can pick the second SSD drive I've got? or that is a feature of the software itself (let's say steam of going for GOG path?)

- when setting up a whole different disk for storage considering the linux file system schematic, how does it work? I mount it to /*insert name here* or something? also I guess I will need to set proper permissions so my user account will be able to utilize it?

4. Looking at my hardware - any red flags pops up? drivers I should avoid ? (example, is it safe to use nVidia drivers etc?)

5. I would very much appreciate if you could point me to a recommended book or online guide for Ubuntu17.04\Linux day-to-day use. In my profession I am PC&Network technician but most of my training and professional experience is Microsoft tech based. I would like to fill the gaps in my knowledge.



Thanks for the help!