Re: [PLUG] Linux distributions without version upgrades

["K.S. Bhaskar" <bhaskar@bhaskars.com>]

My next two experiments were more successful, but neither has yet got
me what I need.

Arch Linux does not have a live CD/DVD.  There are a number of
derivatives, such as Arch Bang, and one intriguing derivative that I
may revisit some day, Chakra.  So I decided to create an Arch virtual
machine, and once successful, to move it to a spare partition on my
laptop (I configure PCs to have two root partitions).  I created the
virtual machine successfully and got a text mode virtual machine, but
no desktop.  I thought I did the right steps, but evidently I did not.
 The installation itself was straightforward.

Then I tried the Gentoo live DVD.  After a false start with a live DVD
that has a 64-bit kernel and 32-bit userland, I successfully booted
with the multi DVD for an all 64-bit Linux.  Both live DVDs booted
first time around and worked as advertised.  Installation to the hard
disk was a snap, although not as simple as Ubuntu, and I am writing
this report booted into KDE on Gentoo.  However... emerge bombs every
time, and I have not been able to figure out how to untangle the
failing dependencies (the output is voluminous and it's not clear
where the first / original / primary error is).

At this point, I am probably done with this weekend's experimentation
(and a pile of projects around the house that I had every intention of
getting done this weekend!).

Thanks for all the advice.  I'll keep you posted with further results.

Regards
-- Bhaskar

On Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 12:29 AM, K.S. Bhaskar <bhaskar@bhaskars.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the opinions and advice, all.
>
> My first experiment - Sabayon Linux 7 AMD64 - was a bomb. ÂThe live
> DVD booted to give me my boot options, but failed to boot the KDE
> desktop on a Dell m6600 laptop. ÂAsking it for the messages while
> booting showed that it was in a permanent loop trying to run (or kill)
> alsactl. ÂI tried booting without boot music with the same result. ÂOn
> an older laptop, the KDE desktop appeared to hang, but a Ctrl-Alt-Del
> allowed it to finish booting into a KDE desktop. ÂThe three fingered
> salute did not work on the m6600.
>
> Regards
> -- Bhaskar
>
> On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 11:24 AM, K.S. Bhaskar <bhaskar@bhaskars.com> wrote:
>> To break the twice a year song-and-dance of Ubuntu upgrades while
>> retaining the ability to stay current with applications, I am
>> considering switching to a Linux distro that doesn't need version
>> upgrades. ÂMy choices seem to be:
>>
>> Debian Unstable - this would feel very comfortable because I am a
>> long-time Debian / Ubuntu user and I am familiar with package
>> management. ÂBut... Debian Unstable does temporarily break from time
>> to time, and I am trying to find a slightly better balance between
>> stability and life on the leading edge. ÂI suppose I could experiment
>> with installing Debian on btrfs which would allow me to snapshot /
>> rollback.
>>
>> Arch Linux
>>
>> Gentoo Linux (perhaps via Sabayon where I can validate hardware
>> compatibility with a live DVD before I install).
>>
>> Any words of wisdom, advice and caution greatly appreciated. ÂThanks in advance.
>>
>> Note that Ubuntu upgrades are (usually) quite smooth. ÂIt's just that
>> between home and work, I have multiple machines, and would like to
>> simplify things.
>>
>> Regards
>> -- Bhaskar
>>
>> --
>> Windows does to computers what smoking does to humans
>
>
>
> --
> Windows does to computers what smoking does to humans



-- 
Windows does to computers what smoking does to humans
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