Switch MDK -> Debian, probably

From: Olaf Marzocchi (olaf_lists_at_virgilio.it)
Date: 09/08/04

  • Next message: Geordie Birch: "Re: Kill does not stop process" 
    To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 21:19:37 +0200

    Hi,
    I'm a MDK user and I'm evaluating a switch to Debian mainly because of
    the better package management system.

    To make my mind I need to know few things:

    -> 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...

    -> 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.

    -> what about the kernel? Did the 2.4 -> 2.6 change require a complete
    os install?

    -> 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)

    -> 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?

    -> 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.

    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]
    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?

    Thanks in advance to anyone, you seem to be the tighter community among
    the distros but I really asked many questions...

    Olaf Marzocchi 

    -- 
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org 
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org
  • Next message: Geordie Birch: "Re: Kill does not stop process"

    Relevant Pages

    • unsubscribe
      ... > Subject: debian newbie... ... If I need to recompile the kernel, ... Also, what other additional packages, ... >> The package you're trying to install presumably ...
      (Debian-User)
    • Re: Distributions
      ... Ubuntu is based on Debian, ... | general there are a lot of packages for people to use. ... kernel, have to run on a multitude of different systems, they tend to be larger ... and slower than if you compile those packages, ...
      (Debian-User)
    • Re: Need newer software that included with stable (that isnt at backports.org)
      ... Try convincing OpenBSD that you want a newer kernel. ... There actually are other distros besides Debian. ... compatibility mode while having a large repository of packages ready to ... its hardware support lags behind Linux somewhat. ...
      (Debian-User)
    • Re: Debian and Dell?
      ... > Debian on a partition. ... As my only Linux experience comes from a Mac, ... kernel image), otherwise you may find yourself unable to boot. ... Marillat provides unofficial packages, which can read some PDF files ...
      (Debian-User)
    • Re: PPTP setup
      ... > I would like to setup a pptp client to connect to a win2k pptp server ... > APT installed also other packages, but I suppose it has installed all ... Easiest (debian) way I've found is using make-kpkg from the ... Debian kernel-image package for the same version of the kernel source ...
      (Debian-User)