Re: Choosing a distribution (was: Just a simple query)
On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 12:52 PM, Camaleón <noelamac@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:41:46 -0300, francis picabia wrote:
>> However I don't use Suse so I wouldn't be on top of the latest here. I
>> am talking about major upgrades, like 11 to 12, not 11.3 to 11.4.
>
> For such "big jumps" the official supported method is using the DVD (off-
> line upgrade) but AFAIK, it is the same here in Debian, only "one jump"
> is supported which does not mean that you cannot upgrade from Debian 4 to
> Debian 6, but like openSUSE, that scenario is noy "oficially" supported,
> but still you can do it if you want :-)
Comparing apples to apples, Debian is able to do what Suse cannot.
Debian can upgrade from 4 to 5, or 5 to 6, while running. You never
need to boot from the network or CD/DVD after the initial Debian
install. I have systems now running Debian 6 which were initially installed
as Debian 3.0. Media such as CD/DVD have never been used on
them since the 3.0 installation. "aptitude dist-upgrade"
(or apt-get - whatever is in vogue in the upgrade instructions),
is the method to do a major upgrade. One should reference
the upgrade documentation for complete instructions and
caveats on any packages which are incompatible,
tips on use of screen, etc.
>> In Debian, the system can stay up and we don't boot from medium to
>> perform a major upgrade. In Debian it requires only a quick couple of
>> reboots to load the newer kernel, etc.
>
> The same remains true for openSUSE, as I said, since newer versions
> (IIRC, 11.3 onwards).
It seems they are just getting a capability Debian has had for a long time.
For minor updates like Debian 6.0 to 6.1, it takes nothing special,
just a regular 'aptitude safe-upgrade' while running.
>> That is pretty much like the Fedora life cycle. Yuck.
>
> Not quite. Fedora support cycle is even more limited (13 months!).
That's why I said "pretty much". With Debian's continuous
path of upgrades without downtime (other than quick reboot,
which is 14 seconds on a virtual system such as KVM),
it doesn't even feel like a life cycle.
>> Another thing that would make me hesitant is the future of Suse. A
>> distro which is owned by someone new every few years comes with some
>> uncertainty.
>
> That's always a risk, true. But now SuSE is a stand-alone business, no
> more part of Novell but a self-managed project of Attachmate.
This year, and then... ? I've seen a few software companies get
traded around like this, and one of two things usually happens:
it becomes absorbed into another product, or it flickers out.
By 2020, I predict both Solaris and Suse will be gone or a minimal
legacy install base. Debian will still be going strong.
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