Re: Please clarify...
On Tue, 16 Jun 1998, Steve Lamb wrote:
> > Yes, but *there is no need for a re-install*! Debian has a great and
> > superior upgrading mechanism, and your system will update cleanly
> > through every version, even major version changes.
>
> "The success varied" and "that mostly all users can upgrade
> easily...to hamm *without* reinstall" also states that there were
> failures and that there will be users who cannot uprgrade w/o a
> reinstall. "There is no need for a re-install" is an aboslute. In
> your own words you have conceeded there will be cases that there will
> be a need for a reinstall.
while it is theoretically possible that a dselect/dpkg upgrade will
fail, i haven't seen it happen yet in several years of using and
upgrading debian.
i've done dozens of bo to hamm upgrades (using autoup.sh) without a
problem. i've done a handful of rex to hamm upgrades without a problem
(also using autoup.sh)
(i know that people have done buzz to hamm upgrades with autoup.sh too -
but i haven't done any myself)
also, over the last few years i have done literally hundreds of debian
upgrades on dozens of machines. i keep most of the machines i am
responsible for in sync with the latest stuff in unstable - most
machines get upgraded every week or two...some get upgraded every six
months or so.
in all of these upgrades i have not once run into any really serious
problem - one which corrupted dpkg's package status info...the majority
of problems encountered were minor, easily solved with a few minutes
work (editing config files or resolving dependancies manually by
installing/removing stuff with dpkg). occasionally an updated version of
a package is extremely buggy and i have to revert to an earlier version.
the only time i have ever had to reinstall from scratch was the result
of hardware failure. dpkg isn't proof against a dead hard disk.
so, to reiterate what i said earlier: in theory, you might occasionally
need to re-install rather than upgrade....but in practice that will only
be necessary if your hardware fails. invest in a tape backup system and
a UPS.
in other words, empirical evidence supports the assertion that "There is
no need for a re-install"
craig
--
craig sanders
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