when does it go from 'updating' to 'just crazy'?

fuscia · 2008-07-10 21:04:42

how often can one do pacman -Syu and still be considered sane?

jbromley · 2008-07-10 21:26:13

If it's a mission critical server that cannot go down, then never once you've got the system properly set up. Unless there is a critical security patch for something you use, and then you'd probably use something finer-grained than pacman -Syu.

For a normal user machine, more than once daily is probably silly. I believe there are Arch tools that will do this automatically. Once every time you log in is perhaps ridiculous (although I've seen a number of distros that will check for updates every time you log in.) If you feel the need to do pacman -Syu multiple times a day you may want to step back and ask yourself "why?"

All of this is IMHO, of course.

Regards.

heleos · 2008-07-10 21:38:41

I probably do it once an hour...

timetrap · 2008-07-10 21:45:53

jbromley wrote:

If it's a mission critical server that cannot go down, then never once you've got the system properly set up. Unless there is a critical security patch for something you use, and then you'd probably use something finer-grained than pacman -Syu.

I think you brought up a good point. How does arch issue security patches? Rolling release lends itself to out-pacing possible security threats by updating, rather than defensively patching old packages.

Traditional notions of "uptime" probably should not be used to gauge the "sucess" of Arch as a server.

An example:

Let's say I am running a kernel in Arch, 2.6.24.
Now a new stable version is issued, 2.6.25.
Arch devs update the kernel package. I now have two options:
1. Update the package and reboot the server
2. Tell pacman to Hold the package, and "watch the skys" for security updates, not only for the kernel, but for every other package that depends on the kernel

Arch will probably be VERY secure from the perspective of "exploits". Arch trades defense (patching), for mobility (updating). All things considered, they are probably equivalent security messures. But, your hardware setup MUST reflect that "uptime" for server hardware is no longer a messure of successful defense. Uptime for the service is (and should always be) the measure of success.

Clustering, load balancing, and redundancy IMHO are a MUST for a successful Arch based production server. Arch does not have a traditional release system, and should not be deployed in a traditional manner.

mintcoffee · 2008-07-10 21:58:13

Well, why not install an update notifier like alunn and pacman -Syu the moment you get a notification. Now that way, you get the an up-to-date system without the constant pacman -Syu madness

wonder · 2008-07-10 22:07:22

heleos wrote:

I probably do it once an hour...

many users that do it like you complain about missing dependency after kernel update from for e.g 2.6.24, 2.6.25 or other major upgrade .

i'm upgrading only if i need the software (new feature) and only after i check forum, bug to see if are problems. thats why i never screw up my archlinux box. i'm using arch for 2 years

Procyon · 2008-07-10 22:17:02

I do pacman -Sy when I get a 404 trying to download a package.
And pacman -Syu with a new kernel and nvidia driver disables opengl, so I only do that before rebooting, which is about once every two to four weeks.

heleos · 2008-07-10 22:42:54

It really just sort of turned into habit. When I come back to my computer, or log in, the first thing I usually type is 'sudo pacman -Syu'

I don't even know why anymore....

Inxsible · 2008-07-10 22:51:01

Only because Arch is a rolling release distro...I do it once every 3-4 weeks

Misfit138 · 2008-07-10 22:55:02

wonder wrote:

heleos wrote:
I probably do it once an hour...
many users that do it like you complain about missing dependency after kernel update from for e.g 2.6.24, 2.6.25 or other major upgrade .
i'm upgrading only if i need the software (new feature) and only after i check forum, bug to see if are problems. thats why i never screw up my archlinux box. i'm using arch for 2 years

Best answer.

Personally, I do it about once a week.

rooloo · 2008-07-10 23:07:22

I run it weekly just to make sure I get most of the packages in my cache. That way, if I need too, I can always go back to any previous release.

Sometimes arch updates come daily though, so it just depends.

moljac024 · 2008-07-10 23:21:06

Hmm, I run it almost daily.....dang! I'm nuts!

Inxsible · 2008-07-10 23:32:04

Just coz of this thread....I couldn't resist doing a pacman -Syu.

just reset my clock again ...Next update after 3 weeks !! I swear

skottish · 2008-07-10 23:54:42

heleos wrote:

I probably do it once an hour...

\\

That's F**king nuts. Your primary mirror only updates once a day... right?

Allan · 2008-07-11 00:15:44

My mirror updates twice daily so I do it around that many....

slackhack · 2008-07-11 00:38:28

mwf ftw!

fwojciec · 2008-07-11 01:06:42

Ooops, I did it again... The [extra] repo got refreshed, so I got my hopes up, but, alas, no packages were updated. Shucks.

iBertus · 2008-07-11 01:13:52

My habit is once daily and has been for the several years that I've used Arch Linux. If it's a slow day and I'm bored, I'll -Syu when I think about it.

mrunion · 2008-07-11 01:40:16

Yup -- once a day. I log in, read the forums with an eye towards "latest xxxx screwed up my yyyy". If it seems not too major I pacman -Syu then.

Sjoden · 2008-07-11 02:26:36

Once a day, maybe once every two days. If I am having a problem, more than once a day hoping there will be a fix.

fuscia · 2008-07-11 03:22:17

ok, well what's the record for most runnings of the command in an hour?

Leigh · 2008-07-11 03:59:29

I'm totally speratic. I'm able to browse the forums at work and usually will discover any updates that are availiable before going home, or something cool that I want to try. If not, I don't mess with updating.

rok3 · 2008-07-11 04:21:57

Every 1 to 3 days unless I'm installing a new package.

INCSlayer · 2008-07-11 06:22:59

i do it when im bored

Doc Angelo · 2008-07-11 06:53:54

INCSlayer wrote:

i do it when im bored

Phew, i'm not alone with this...

Arch Linux

#1 2008-07-10 21:04:42

when does it go from 'updating' to 'just crazy'?

#2 2008-07-10 21:26:13

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#3 2008-07-10 21:38:41

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#4 2008-07-10 21:45:53

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#5 2008-07-10 21:58:13

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