Arch Linux

CaspianXI

Member

Registered: 2007-05-29

Posts: 59

Delayed Pacman Update

I'm installing Linux on my parents' computer, and they need a distro that "just works". I've been through dozens of distros on my personal computer, and I've never had a distro which "just works" like Arch.

The only "problem" I've ever had with Arch was once when I did a pacman update and got a bad kernel. This was no problem, since I just reverted by running pacman on the live CD. Plus, the package was fixed within a day (go, Arch developers!).  However, if this ever happened to my parents, they'd be stranded until I had time to come over to fix it.

Is there any way of "avoiding" bad packages? Is it possible to tell pacman to only upgrade if the packages are a couple days old? (No faulty package would live in the repos that long).

Any ideas how I might go about doing this?

Thanks!

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,066

Re: Delayed Pacman Update

A distro that "just works" must attempt to autoconfigure - think of Debian/Ubuntu.

No distro can fix all bad packages that quickly. "Bad" for one person means working perfectly fine for another, if they're not affected by that particular bug.

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CaspianXI

Member

Registered: 2007-05-29

Posts: 59

Re: Delayed Pacman Update

I'm not looking to be able to get new apps working painlessly (they ask me to install anything for them, anyways). All I want is to be able to do is leave the computer alone for a couple years while my parents run Firefox, OpenOffice, and pacman -Syu over the next few years without anything breaking... do you think Arch isn't the distro for them?

I used Ubuntu about a year ago (for about 2 years) -- I often found it ran slower and slower over time as new updates came in, until I finally had to wipe my root partition and upgrade to the next release every 6 months. My old computer is still on its first Arch install after a year... which makes me think Arch would be good to leave on a computer for a couple years...

Last edited by CaspianXI (2008-04-16 15:27:45)

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,066

Re: Delayed Pacman Update

There isn't a distro in existence which is that good. This is why the forums of every distro are full (relative to the number of users, and how experienced they are) of, "Something I don't understand just happened - what do I do??" Hehe. Usually because they're too lazy to use Google to see how the other thousands of users fixed the exact same problem, annoyingly. But I digress.

If you like Arch, stick with it, but be prepared to help them out occasionally. Configuration files can occasionally need manual alteration, for a start. Important files deserve a backup strategy - there's another reason.

The idea of only upgrading packages which are a few days old - it's bad on principle. There is no law which says that packages older than two days are perfect. Will just delay packages getting *fixed*.

Last edited by brebs (2008-04-16 15:45:15)

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CaspianXI

Member

Registered: 2007-05-29

Posts: 59

Re: Delayed Pacman Update

Ok... I guess I'm expecting too much from Arch... or any distro, as you mentioned .

I think I'll just make a cron job run pacman -Syu twice a week, and email me the output... so if something breaks, I'll know where to check.

Thanks for your input .

Misfit138

Misfit Emeritus

From: USA

Registered: 2006-11-27

Posts: 4,167

Website

Re: Delayed Pacman Update

There isn't a distro in existence which is that good.

This is sad to me, though undeniably true.
Because the entire structure of the open source, or, more specifically, the GNU/Linux model, is under such heavy development, a stable, up-to-date and low maintenance desktop is virtually nonexistent.
This is the number one obstacle to GNU/Linux dominating the desktop in the foreseeable future. Hobbyists, enthusiasts, programmers, admins, and computer scientists don't care, because they typically enjoy a good challenge. To Joe sixpack, though, this is a problem.
I can't think of any distros that even come close to a Windows-type model of "install once and update for 5-7 years with virtually no user intervention". Like Brebs said, "There isn't a distro in existence which is that good.."
OpenSolaris Project Indiana looks promising, but it is not aimed toward Joe sixpack.
Arch is perfect for me, but I feel bad for average users who will be put off GNU/Linux the minute their Ubuntu upgrade goes badly.

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brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,066

Re: Delayed Pacman Update

There's no need to upgrade so often - for the average user wanting "low-ish maintenance", once a fortnight/month is fine. The chance of breaking the system through too-frequent upgrades (twice a week) would be much higher than that of realistically getting hacked.

Also, upgrading via cron is not recommended - it should be a manual operation. E.g. dbus upgrade crashes gnome. Apps might be broken, immediately and until their configuration files are manually altered.

Last edited by brebs (2008-04-16 17:02:23)

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