On Wed, Sep 08, 2004 at 09:19:37PM +0200, Olaf Marzocchi wrote: > > -> with MDK, to update the main packages I have to reinstall the OS > every 6 or 12 months. I don't use linux as main OS (I use Mac OS X), > so it's pretty annoying... the time I spend mantaining the OS is too > much. What about Debian? Can I update the whole system (without > adding packages, I mean, only updates) without the need of a complete > reinstall? (MDK main OS installer is not really good in doing > upgrades). I don't want to reconfigure everything every 6 months...
Yes: apt-get -u dist-upgrade > -> In MDK, when I had to upgrade from KDE 3.1.x to KDE 3.2 (I had > MDK9.2, I tried to update only what I needed), I had to force the > urpmi system to uninstall all the kde packages (I had to force it > because urpmi keeps track of every dependency: a wonderful system, it > always worked beautifully except this time, not like the original > rpm). Unfortunately, the process wasn't flawless. When I started kde > 3.2, I found that kdm (login manager) lost every WM other than kde... > OO.org never started anymore... and similar things. I heard a friend > saying in Debian the process would have been as simple as a single > cmdline. Is it true (I mean, *facts*, not "it should be so", > please...). Remember that a traditional update would be simple even > under MDK, I take KDE 3.1.x -> 3.2 as example because the packages > number/names changed, urpmi couldn't cope with this. What about .deb? > This point is important. I don't recall specifically having done this particular upgrade, but I've had very few problems with application upgrades using apt-get. > -> what about the kernel? Did the 2.4 -> 2.6 change require a complete > os install? No, I've upgraded two systems to the 2.6.x kernels without the need to reinstall the OS. In fact, it's very rare that you'll ever need to reinstall Debian short of either _wanting_ to or hardware failure. > -> kernels: are they patched? MDK ships a kernel heavily patched as > standard, in my opinion this is really useful. If debian kernels are > "clean", can I take a MDK kernel (let's suppose I compile it, but what > about taking the rpm with the kernel?) and use it in Debian? (I > suppose yes, but who knows) Debian kernels are somewhat patched. I normally compile my own using the make-kpkg utility from kernel-package since I like to have a few other things such as ipsec (openswan), mppe, and i2c support. But make-kpkg makes this very easy. > -> rpm packages are everywhere... what about .deb? I'm able to compile > apps, but, since having a package allow me to uninstall it cleanly and > simply, I always prefer prepackaged apps. Will I be able to use rpms? You _could_ continue to use rpm packages via alien, but I wouldn't suggest it. In most cases you'll probably be able to find a deb (official or unofficial) for what you're looking to use. > -> will I be able to use MDK, SUSE and Fedora (the latter doesn't > matter that much, I never seen them) configuration tools? AFAIK, > Debian leave the user alone, there are no "debian" tool to configure > the OS (I originally chose MDK due to this). Note: this point is a > must. Without GUI tools to speed up system configuration, I won't > choose Debian. In most cases, probably not. There are a number of GUI configuration tools available in Debian. More specific examples would probably be needed of what you'd like a GUI configuration tool for. > If you need to know, I'd choose the testing branch, even if don't > remember the kernel it ships... I hope 2.6. [update: no, it ships > 2.4.something. What about 2.6? I want it] Testing currently has kernel packages for 2.6.7 and 2.4.27. > Last thing: what about reiserfs4? will it be among the FS choices? if > not I'll choose reiserfs, but is a rfs3.6->rfs4 upgrade possible > without format? Not sure on this as there was a rather heated dispute a while back about the licensing. -- Jamin W. Collins Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley, "Proper Studies", 1927 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
