Can I clean install Mavericks preserving other bootable partitions (Ubuntu on ext4)? I have checked Will my other partitions be wiped when doing a clean install of Mavericks? but I'd like to make sure whether a clean install of Mavericks to my specific OS X partition won't mess up with the rest of the disk. OS X generally doesn't recognize other partitions types beyond the Windows types.

Is such clean install prone to error even if I take care of asking installation to not touch the partition scheme?
If you clear you partition using Disk Utility and then boot into Internet Recovery or install from another location (for example a USB flash drive) you should be fine, OS X will only be installed (and only effect) the partition you choose to install it on at the start of the installation process.