I'm probably not really a power user (I can read instructions) but my problem is pretty specific, so I figured it would fit here. I'm sorry if it doesn't.
I managed to set up triple boot (OS X Mavericks, Vista, Ubuntu 12.04) on my MacBook Pro (mid-2009) a few weeks ago with the help of several tutorials I found on the web (and rEFInd).
Works perfectly (after having fixed the boot table with the help of another tutorial so Ubuntu wouldn't boot into Vista anymore), but I don't like Ubuntu much and I'd like to replace it with CrunchBang which I have been using on my netbook and which I like better.
I don't know what is the best way to do that though. I was thinking of simply going through the standard setup process, installing CrunchBang over the existing Ubuntu partitions (I have two of which one is swap), formatting them in the process (just as I formatted and partitioned a free space partition during Ubuntu installation).
I got to the point where the installer lets me choose on which partition I want to install CrunchBang but then quit the installation. I want to make sure first that it won't do major damage to my system. And I also don't know what to do with swap (whether I can use it with CrunchBang or merge it with my OSX partition again after maybe formatting it to free space via CrunchBang (at that point already installed)).
Additionally, there are two small partitions according to the installer that are only 1 MB in size, each one after one of the two Ubuntu partitions. I don't know what they do and I don't know what would happen to them if I proceeded they way I described.
Also, as far as I know, Ubuntu is, well, Ubuntu-based while CrunchBang is Debian-based. That shouldn't cause any problems though since the setup process is supposed to wipe the Ubuntu partition? The systems themselves shouldn't interact.
(An alternative to all of this would be setting up another partition, repeating the process I did for Ubuntu, basically making my setup a quad-boot. Then I could maybe figure out how to delete Ubuntu although that wouldn't be a high priority since I have enough space. I'd like to make it work though with the partitions I already have.)
My main fear is messing up the partition table so I can't start up in OSX anymore. I really want to avoid that.
So to get to my question: Is it possible to simply install CrunchBang over my existing two Ubuntu partitions in a triple-boot setup using rEFInd during standard CrunchBang setup? Would that work? How likely is it to break something in the process?