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I am new to Ubuntu (and Linux in general, as a home installer/user). Do I need to worry about fragmentation of the file system on a Linux partition on one's hard drive?

Azendale
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user277950
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No. While there may be a little fragmentation in a Linux system using ext4 like Ubuntu, there is no need to worry about it.

Rex
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    I would like to expand on this answer a little bit. While every filesystem has the possibility for fragmentation (especially in high disk-usage scenarios), the Ext filesystem is specifically designed to avoid fragmentation whenever possible. It does this by leaving a gap at the end of newly created files which gives them room for expansion without having to fragment the file generally. This is starkly opposed to FAT and NTFS which seemingly places files randomly and without any room for growth. – Chuck R May 04 '14 at 20:40