my sister started using arch

markp1989 · 2009-05-24 14:10:44

last week i lent my sister my eee 900, running arch. after about an hour of using it she asked me if i would install arch linux on her 2gb surf. set up exactly as mine is, which is openbox , fbpanel, conky, wicd, emesene, xpdf, vlc, gimp, openofffice and pcmanfm.

she is pleased with it , and happily uses it as her main computer. for what typical teen agers do (msn,facebook, and some coursework(even thou she usualy does that on her desktop), etc), i didnt even try to pursuade her or anything like that, she used it for a while, and arch sold it self.

she is pretty hopeless with computers, she knows how to use them, but not how to set up or anything like that (usualy why she ends up geting a virus of sorts) , so now i have set it up as she likes, there is no reason for her to do any tweaks or anything like that.

i have an xp install disk handy if she changes her mind about it .

Last edited by markp1989 (2009-05-24 14:12:08)

Ramses de Norre · 2009-05-24 14:22:07

Does she update the machine herself?

markp1989 · 2009-05-24 14:33:23

Ramses de Norre wrote:

Does she update the machine herself?

the install has only been on for a week or so now

im gona avoid updates, unless there is a bug fix that i really need, or a new feature.

also, the surf model she has is only 2gb root drive, which has bout 300mb free, and i dont know how pacman acts if it runs out of space during an update?

Allan · 2009-05-24 14:35:07

markp1989 wrote:

also, the surf model she has is only 2gb root drive, which has bout 300mb free, and i dont know how pacman acts if it runs out of space during an update?

Not too well... http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/11639

markp1989 · 2009-05-24 14:51:25

ok, i may see if i can get 2gb ram for her eee, then mount the pacman cache in tmpfs. for future upgrades.

EDIT: just remembered the 2gb surf has soldered ram. so thats not an option.

of rather then doing full upgrade, il just see whats new and upgrade a few things at a time.

Last edited by markp1989 (2009-05-24 15:01:28)

Mr.Elendig · 2009-05-24 15:12:32

markp1989 wrote:

Ramses de Norre wrote:
Does she update the machine herself?
the install has only been on for a week or so now
im gona avoid updates, unless there is a bug fix that i really need, or a new feature.
also, the surf model she has is only 2gb root drive, which has bout 300mb free, and i dont know how pacman acts if it runs out of space during an update?

That is usually a "Bad idea(tm)". Not doing regular updates just increases the chance of something going bad when you finally do update, it will also increase the risk of you running out of space, since the updates will be much larger.

And if you only try to update certain packages, then you will sooner or later end up with dependency cycles and other fun stuff.

Nezmer · 2009-05-24 16:28:56

I do the same thing with members of my family . You can ignore updates as long as you want . But doing partial upgrades is not a good idea .

You should do the upgrades when the user is busy doing other stuff away from the machine (e.g in the weekend) . So you can fix breakages , migrate configurations & do a little testing to insure that everything is running fine . that way the upgrade process would be transparent to the end user .

Anonymo · 2009-05-24 18:19:46

Have you erased the cache packages from /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ ?

That might clear up some room. I'm thinking you can move them to a CD or USB drive in case she needs them to downgrade later.

godane · 2009-05-24 19:34:40

You could also try install my archiso-live cd on to your eee 900. Since its only 2gb of disk space you can do a frugal installl. (A livecd running on your 2gb hard drive. Which i think is a flash drive cause of size).

You could also just get a 8gb usb stick for like $20-$25 nowadays. Use that to have your packages on then install them manually.

I think my livecd would be a better option for your disk space problem. There always up to date.

rayjgu3 · 2009-05-24 21:59:48

on my eee i put arch on a sd card set the bios to boot from card & not internal drive
leaving the soldered sdd alone

this way when the card burns up from writes to it i can get another 8gb card for cheap today there like $20 usd.
when i burn up card it will be cheaper or a larger card for same price.
also good practice for family eee say you have an extra card upgrade one then swap it out
just a thought

markp1989 · 2009-05-24 22:16:57

rayjgu3 wrote:

on my eee i put arch on a sd card set the bios to boot from card & not internal drive
leaving the soldered sdd alone
this way when the card burns up from writes to it i can get another 8gb card for cheap today there like $20 usd.
when i burn up card it will be cheaper or a larger card for same price.
also good practice for family eee say you have an extra card upgrade one then swap it out
just a thought

the problem with that is that most cheap SD cards are usualy very slow compared to the soldered ssd. If the onbord ssd got damaged then i would use an SD as a last resort, i have had my 701 for about 18 months now, and the ssd is still fine.

have you had any SDs get damaged from writes? or you just being cautious?

celthias · 2009-05-24 23:49:48

markp1989 wrote:

Ramses de Norre wrote:
Does she update the machine herself?
the install has only been on for a week or so now
im gona avoid updates, unless there is a bug fix that i really need, or a new feature.
also, the surf model she has is only 2gb root drive, which has bout 300mb free, and i dont know how pacman acts if it runs out of space during an update?

You might be better off simply flagging the potential system/soul destroying packages from updating (eg xorg, hal, kernel, drivers etc), while letting the rest update. At the very least, you'll be notified of when there IS an update available, or be let known when another package requires a certain version. As Mr. Elindig said, Pandora's box almost always opens when you leave an update for too long. But of course, up to you mate

parintachin · 2009-05-25 01:38:03

the ssd in the eee900 is the slowest thing on earth if i recall correct it can only write 5mb/s max.
i've got a eee701 with 4G ssd but i use an SDHC-card with 8G (can write up to 18mb/s) it is more than equal to the ssd and i can just ercurage you to try also , you would be supprised how well this works

Arch Linux

#1 2009-05-24 14:10:44

my sister started using arch

#2 2009-05-24 14:22:07

Re: my sister started using arch

#3 2009-05-24 14:33:23

Re: my sister started using arch

#4 2009-05-24 14:35:07

Re: my sister started using arch

#5 2009-05-24 14:51:25

Re: my sister started using arch

#6 2009-05-24 15:12:32

Re: my sister started using arch

#7 2009-05-24 16:28:56

Re: my sister started using arch

#8 2009-05-24 18:19:46

Re: my sister started using arch

#9 2009-05-24 19:34:40

Re: my sister started using arch

#10 2009-05-24 21:59:48

Re: my sister started using arch

#11 2009-05-24 22:16:57

Re: my sister started using arch

#12 2009-05-24 23:49:48

Re: my sister started using arch

#13 2009-05-25 01:38:03

Re: my sister started using arch

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