On Fri, 19 Sep 2014 16:37:29 -0700 Don Armstrong <d...@debian.org> wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Sep 2014, David Christensen wrote: > > On 09/18/2014 10:54 PM, softwatt wrote: > > >Also, does a clean install offer any advantage over an upgrade? > > > > Yes, because: > > > > 1. You get a systems programming product that has been through a > > quality assurance process. > > Users of debian test both upgrades and clean installs.... so this > isn't really a big deal. > > > 2. It is easier to trouble-shoot if you run into problems -- both > > for you and for other people that want to replicate any issues you > > encounter. > > This also doesn't make much of a difference, so long as you're not > using unofficial packages. If you're using unofficial packages, then > good luck. > Indeed, but even official packages run into tens of thousands. For example, I run freeradius on my stable server, which probably less than 0.1% of Debian users do. These days, it is in the repositories complete with SSL, so in theory... The range of possible clean installs is orders of magnitude smaller than the possible range of systems needing upgrade. But, stepping around the elephant in the room, most packages are either standalone or one of a small group implementing a function using split-off libraries. Upgrading one or a thousand packages is different only in quantitative terms, as long as they are not 'integrated'. It's still easier to be confident about a clean install, but you do really need to have a log of what was done to the old system, or you will spend months saying 'damn, haven't I done that yet to the new installation?'. Always use a new drive/partition, and keep the old one mountable from the new, if necessary on an external box, until you're confident you've got everything right. Keep a copy of the old /etc actually in the new installation. -- Joe -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/20140920092906.4ce5f...@jresid.jretrading.com
