How much space to allocate to Ubuntu partition?

Question

So, going to dual boot my current Windows 7 install with Ubuntu. My Hard Drive is very small, 300GB (exactly 284GB) and has 148GB free space. I have to keep in mind I play a lot of games and install a lot of stuff, so I want to keep as much free space on the Windows partition as possible. I have never really used Ubuntu or any Linux for that matter as a mainstream OS, so I don't know 100% how much space programs tend to eat in to. How much would you recommend allocating on this Hard Drive?

Solution 1

It depends on what you plan on doing with this, But I have found that you will need at least 10GB for a basic Ubuntu install + a few user installed programs. I recommend 16GB at a minimum to provide some room to grow when you add a few programs and packages. Anything larger than 25GB is likely too large.

Solution 2

Ubuntu provides Installation/System Requirements here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

The suggestion there is to have at least 5GB of disk/storage space for desktop installations.

You will likely want more than that - though how much will depend on what you are using the partition for. If you are storing all your documents and media on the Windows 7 partition then you will only need space for applications.

For example, if you plan to store your email you will need the space for your email, as well as for the client you are using. The Thunderbird package is anywhere from 36 617 kB to 100 881 kB depending on your architecture (http://packages.ubuntu.com/xenial/thunderbird).

To get an idea as to how large the applications you want to install are, you can run the installation media (CD/USB) in live mode and start the "Ubuntu Software" program. This will show you the size of a package you select in the "Details" section. Alternatively you could search for the package description as done above for thunderbird.

If you choose a filesystem that can be grown (eg. ext2/3/4, btrfs, xfs, etc.) you can increase it later if need be (though be sure to back up your data first!).

Comments

[Elder Geek]

Programs under Ubuntu are typically quite lean compared to Windows. I have an Ubuntu installation (14.04) that I've been running for years that I allocated 100GB for that's still only using 14GB. I have a more recent 16.04 installation that I allocated 30GB to which is currently using 8.4GB Hopefully this will give you some idea as this question is quite likely to be closed as Primarily opinion based.

[Kamil]

You could install Ubuntu on virtualbox machine. Then install all the stuff you need. Then add some place for your files and future installed programs. Also you probably need some space for swap file. Size of this file depends of size of your RAM and memory consumption of your usual programs.

[David Foerster]

Possible duplicate of How do I find out which version and derivative of Ubuntu is right for my hardware in terms of minimal system requirements? – includes a listing of minimal disk space requirements for UBuntu.

[Jake1702]

Well, I may allocate 25GB then. I suppose I can change it if I ever need to.