Survey: How often do you update distro?

[brucehohl]

How often do you update your distribution? I use SuSE 8.1 and 8.2 is now available. Is a 0.1 version change worth the update or should I wait for version 9.x? I've down loaded all the patches for 8.1 already. Your thoughts please?

[Hayl]

i don't need to. gentoo versions don't mean anything as they only affect the installer (live cd).

emerge sync && emerge -up world keeps me at the latest gentoo permanently.

my personal advice : switch to a meta distribution and you won't have the versioning problems.

(PS: Debian is another distro that you don't have to worry about this versio stuff with: "apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade" when a new stable version is released.)

[myshkin]

:confused: whats a "meta" distribution?

[saturn-vk]

well technically i still use slack 8.1, even though i have all the latest official slack 9.0 packages. and the upgrade was very simple.

I just ran this command:

swaret --upgrade -a


who says slack is difficult to install and maintain :)

[Hayl]

Originally posted by myshkin
:confused: whats a "meta" distribution?

http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/about.xml

[glussier]

Originally posted by myshkin
:confused: whats a "meta" distribution?

A distribution based on source code.

[shakin]

Originally posted by Hayl
i don't need to. gentoo versions don't mean anything as they only affect the installer (live cd).


I stopped using Gentoo when I tried to emerge php and it spent 3 days compiling X (older system). I just wanted a console-only system for a server. Using Red Hat 9 I compiled PHP without X.

IMO, using something like Portage invites more trouble than it solves. For example, it's a royal pain in the *** to use and KEEP my custom ./configure options. I have to edit the ebuild, then those changes get erased on the next emerge sync, or if I move the ebuild to a local spot to avoid being over-written, the next upgrade to that software will have a new ebuild without my changes.

I'm going to use Gentoo again, but I will avoid using Portage for anything that's important. Portage is only really useful for getting a lean system up front, but maintenance is tough for anybody who doesn't like the defaults.

[dungscooperdave]

Originally posted by shakin
Portage is only really useful for getting a lean system up front, but maintenance is tough for anybody who doesn't like the defaults.
try lfs

[sharth]

i upgrade either daily or every other day. debian! woo :)

[Artimus]

I should probably upgrade more often. I'm running Slackware 8.1 on my server. I just don't like to update things, as I really like how they are working right now ^_^;

P.S. Who was the creator of swaret? I met him once on freenode.

[hop-frog]

Originally posted by brucehohl
How often do you update your distribution? I use SuSE 8.1 and 8.2 is now available. Is a 0.1 version change worth the update or should I wait for version 9.x? I've down loaded all the patches for 8.1 already. Your thoughts please?
Do you have a fast internet connection and a CD burner? You might check out the free one-disk evaluation version of SuSE 8.2 available at SuSE's Web site. It gives you a good feel for the product before you go out and spend money on it and because it loads into the RAM it doesn't overwrite your existing data.

[Hayl]

Originally posted by shakin
I stopped using Gentoo when I tried to emerge php and it spent 3 days compiling X (older system). I just wanted a console-only system for a server. Using Red Hat 9 I compiled PHP without X.

USE = "-X"


IMO, using something like Portage invites more trouble than it solves. For example, it's a royal pain in the *** to use and KEEP my custom ./configure options. I have to edit the ebuild, then those changes get erased on the next emerge sync, or if I move the ebuild to a local spot to avoid being over-written, the next upgrade to that software will have a new ebuild without my changes.

custom ebuilds go in /usr/local/portage and the variable PORTDIR_OVERLAY=/usr/local/portage gets set in /etc/make.conf.

also - many custom options in ebuilds are controlled by the USE variable.

I'm going to use Gentoo again, but I will avoid using Portage for anything that's important. Portage is only really useful for getting a lean system up front, but maintenance is tough for anybody who doesn't like the defaults.

it is simple, powerful, and easy to use if you understand how to use it. based on what you posted and the fact that the issues were easily resolved with a good working knowledge of portage; which i don't think you had when you tried it before. if you aren't going to use portage then why not just go lfs?

PS: i thought this was a "how often i update my distro" thread, not a "why i don't like gentoo" thread.