openSUSE -> Arch switch: encrypted partitions, keeping /home and other

skx · 2009-02-16 15:17:14

Hello,

I am considering switching from openSUSE to Arch -- I want to gain performance, avoid releases and try something new -- but have some doubts/questions. I would appreciate if you could help me a bit with resolving them :)

i. From what I see on the fora some of you are (ex) SUSE users so... will I miss anything?

ii. Should I expect any problems in general?
a) I am using nVidia proprietary drivers and, despite all downsides, would like to keep doing so. Are there any problems regarding installation or keeping them up to date?
b) Is it possible to use s2ram and s2disk or obtain working counterpart(s), as, I hear, there are some problems with those?
c) Is it possible to install software from debs and/or rpms? Possibly without extracting and moving files manually?
d) Is it safe to assume that hardware and all applications not specific to any distribution will work just as well as they do on SUSE? I know, Linux is Linux but still.
/edit: e) Does getting fonts to be displayed properly takes a lot of tweaking? This problem does not exist on SUSE but on other distros it used to be a pain.

iii. I have SUSE installed on encrypted partitions (with luks and /dev/mapper so it's pretty similar to setup recommended for Arch in that matter) and would like to avoid reencrypting as well as keep /home untouched. Is it possible and not too complicated?
(I have seen http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LUKS_Encrypted_Root, http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Off … tall_Guide and http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ins … ing_Linux)

Any additional information and comments are welcome.

Last edited by skx (2009-02-16 15:36:33)

quarkup · 2009-02-16 15:28:19

ii)
a) No problemo. I use nVidia drivers too for my 6800go, with no issues.

Inxsible · 2009-02-16 15:34:19

ii c) Why would you want to install debs and rpms on an Arch machine anyway? Most software that is available for Debian based and RPM based Os'es, is also available for Arch. But if you still have a pressing need to use some proprietary rpm software, I think there are packages in AUR, which can help you convert them to an Arch PKGBUILD and then install them. I think its called rpmextract -- but I could be wrong.

Last edited by Inxsible (2009-02-16 15:39:58)

bgc1954 · 2009-02-16 15:35:59

i)
Well, if you used suse for any length of time, you might miss the incredible slowness of yast as compared to pacman.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

skx · 2009-02-16 15:40:04

quarkup wrote:

ii)
a) No problemo. I use nVidia drivers too for my 6800go, with no issues.

Inxsible wrote:

ii c) [....] I think there are packages in AUR, which can help you convert them to an Arch PKGBUILD and then install them.

Thanks.

bgc1954 wrote:

i)
Well, if you used suse for any length of time, you might miss the incredible slowness of yast as compared to pacman. :D

YaST is not that slow anymore ;)

What about the encryption part? That's the one that makes me anxious.

Last edited by skx (2009-02-16 15:50:58)

na12 · 2009-02-16 18:01:17

ii. b) no problem,I use pm-utils on my laptop and everything works nice.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-02-16 15:17:14

openSUSE -> Arch switch: encrypted partitions, keeping /home and other

#2 2009-02-16 15:28:19

Re: openSUSE -> Arch switch: encrypted partitions, keeping /home and other

#3 2009-02-16 15:34:19

Re: openSUSE -> Arch switch: encrypted partitions, keeping /home and other

#4 2009-02-16 15:35:59

Re: openSUSE -> Arch switch: encrypted partitions, keeping /home and other

#5 2009-02-16 15:40:04

Re: openSUSE -> Arch switch: encrypted partitions, keeping /home and other

#6 2009-02-16 18:01:17

Re: openSUSE -> Arch switch: encrypted partitions, keeping /home and other

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