Hey there,
I've gotten a new PC set up last week, and I've thought that this might be a good chance to organize files and folders in some different way.
Maybe the answer is simply: "Don't bother, it's not trivial and there isn't a *perfect* solution, just be happy with what's working out for you."
In case not...
Basically, my new setup consists of a 500GB SSD with system partitions for Windows (10) and Linux (Ubuntu 18.10), as well as installed programs; And a 4TB NTFS-formatted HDD for anything else, shared across the two OSes. Of course, I've disabled fast boot on the Win10 side.
With my older PC, it's similar, the main difference being a single 1TB HDD is partitioned.
I also have full backups of this disk's data partitions in image forms, and can directly access their contents from Ubuntu by mounting them (in read-only form)s.
Question is if anybody has anything to contribute on organizing files and folders.
1. First of all, I'm not that sure about accessing the images of the old disk's partitions directly. They're naturally (quite) fragmented, so it might be better to expand them into actual folders. Additionally, it's also a good way to let me gradually move stuff from the old backups' locations to newer, more relevant locations.
2. For reference, other than properly installed games (say in Windows' "Program Files", or somewhere in ~/.local/share/Steam on Ubuntu), I also have this giant "Games" dir. A subdir of it may consist of a single game (quite often a DOS game), contain separate dirs for multiple versions of the same game (e.g., SW shareware versions 1.0-1.2, registered v1.2 and the prototypes released on 2017), related tools and other work (e.g., a source port's sources and/or modding tools), etc.
3. There may also be a separate dir in the style of "Games", say for differing tools, not necessarily related to gaming. Shared libraries' source codes are covered in this same dir, too.
4. To give out examples of files and folders to store, as currently organized in the older PC:
System partitions (previously HDD partitions, now SSD partitions):
- All properly installed programs, found where you should expect them, say "Program Files" and the differing configuration dirs.
- Anything intended to be in the shared NTFS partition (described below), but relocated due to lack of space.
Shared NTFS partition (previously an additional HDD partition, now more-or-less a whole separate HDD):
- An archive of non-installed games, say backups of installers and additional files from my GOG.com account. GOG.com has its own separate dir, while otherwise the files tend to be organized by dirs per-game and/or per-some-company (e.g., original developer or publisher).
- A similar archive for more "general" software. Haven't used it much so far, other than something like 2 old FTP backups, I think.
- The "Games" dir previously described (under point 2), and I guess that also the tools dir (point 3).
- Shared Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos dirs, accessible from Windows as its library dirs (e.g., what used to be called "My Documents" in Windows XP).
5. Finally, again, maybe there's just no perfect solution. For instance, it can be difficult to decide if a program falls under a "Games" or "Tools" directory. Additionally, should a specific games' soundtrack be found under "Games" or "Music"? Furthermore, some modding tools may be useful for *two* games. Maybe this means the games should reside in a shared subdir (say "build" for Duke3D and SW, at the least)?
6. Based on the above, someone may bring out the concept of a "tagged filesystem". Problem is, not only I'm not sure of a good way to have a solution working with Windows and a Linux distribution like Ubuntu altogether, but there are still many uses for directories. For instance, I use a terminal emulator quite often.
7. Then again, I can probably use symbolic links to simulate tags (at least on the Linux side). Maybe that's a solution for 6.
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
