Re: apt-get update lists
On Saturday 19 June 2004 18:33, Osamu Aoki wrote:
> On Sat, Jun 19, 2004 at 09:49:52AM -0500, Kent West wrote:
> > Brian Astill wrote:
> > >I have just started to use Debian - some would say I still haven't
> > >started because I'm using Knoppix 3.4 installed on my HD. <sigh>
[...]
> > >First things first :-)
> > >Is there a list of packages sorted by Section, rather than by
> > > Package, without logging onto packages.debian.org/stable/ ?
Having been in your position a little over a year ago, I would recommend
using aptitude if you are not already. The list there is still long,
but it is in an easily navigated form, and gives convenient access to
basic info. If you haven`t installed it, do apt-get install aptitude.
> >
> > As Carl implied, Knoppix is a mix of Debian stable, testing, and
> > unstable, along with a few third-parties thrown in for good
> > measure. It works very well as a distro, but when you start trying
> > to upgrade it, especially from the very old stable distro, you're
> > likely to run into all sorts of brokenness. [...]
> How bad is this situation? Is unstable good for this original
> poster?
[...]
> But upgrading to testing or unstable with minimal understanding of
> Debian administration will be pretty tough experiences.
[...]
I see lots of warnings here on the pitfalls of upgrading from a Knoppix
distro. I started with Knoppix (3.3 and 3.4) on three boxes, and Mepis
on a fourth. I have randomly updated and upgraded from all of them,
and have only had two major problems, neither of which was a result of
the original Knoppix setup. (One was not noticing postgresql was
changing release number, and not doing a pre-emptive dump, the other
was when KDE was broken -- and that had the incidental benefit of
weaning me from KDE).
Otherwise, I have created a heap of minor problems, but again, none
result from where I started. I have also altered the apt config on one
of the boxes to track sid rather than sarge with no ill-effects. And I
have freely swapped parts of the sources.list files as seemed
expedient. Every so often, I come across another instance of Knoppix
or Mepis configuration being different, but so far I`ve allowed debconf
to incrementally supersede these differences.
The benefits of the Knoppix (or Mepis) install for me were mainly the
fact that nothing else recognized my NICs, and the general convenience
of being able to work on the box an hour after starting the
installation, leaving the fine-tuning to spare moments. So, from my
experience at least, the potential problems have not materialized and I
would recommend anyone to at least try this route.
--
richard
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