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Removing Ubuntu
sr_ls_boy Jul 5, 2019
Ubuntu 18.10 will reach end of life in less than two weeks! I'm still on 18.04 on
a hard drive. I'm looking to switch to maybe debian testing.

My question is will the installer let me install without reformatting the drive?
I can move everything to a temporary folder which the installer will not see, nor
write over. Plus, I can remove everything from my efi system partition.

Can debian do it? If not, than how about another distribution?
slaapliedje Jul 5, 2019
So, assuming you've created a separate /home partition, keep that and re-install over the other partitions. Partition editor is fairly straight forward, though I've seen better ones.

By the way, I think 'testing' (also known as Buster) should be releasing this weekend? So that is great timing.
sr_ls_boy Jul 6, 2019
No, I did not create a separate /home partition.
Hence, my dilemma. I've got plenty of time
to think about this.

Below is a partial dump from fdisk.
Ubuntu chose the layout. I didn't.

Spoiler, click me

Disk: 1.8 TiB
Disklabel type: gpt

Device Size Type
/dev/sda1 512M EFI System
/dev/sda2 1.8T Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3 8G Linux swap
Mnoleg Jul 6, 2019
Quoting: sr_ls_boyUbuntu 18.10 will reach end of life in less than two weeks! I'm still on 18.04 on
a hard drive...
Are you aware that 18.04 is a long term support version? It won't reach end of life until 2028.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases
denyasis Jul 6, 2019
Well, if you are still interested in changing to another distro, do you have a external drive or place you can backup your /home directory?

It's been a while for me with Debian, but most installers will let you dual-boot. You could then move your /home or anything you want to the new installation, then remove the Ubuntu partitions to reclaim space. Its not ideal, but it could work if you don't have a way to back up your data.

Good luck!
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