Boston Linux and Unix InstallFest XXX1 Saturday November 22, 2008

[David Rosenstrauch]

Jerry Feldman wrote:
> But, the one thing I would like to see is a continuous upgrade 
> (well Gentoo does this to some extent). What I mean is that you start 
> with Distro Version a. Along the way your system is upgraded 
> continuously such that when Version b. is officially released, you 
> already have it.

Arch Linux works this way as well.  They operate with what they call a 
"rolling release" system.  You basically just install Arch once, and 
never "upgrade" to a new "version" ever again.  In fact on Arch they 
only really declare a "version" after the fact:  they choose a 
particular point in time and label that a version which they really just 
use to create a newer installation CD.

In practice, you just keep upgrading individual packages.  Sometimes 
when the upgrades are major (e.g., when upgrading kernel, xorg, kde, 
gnome, etc.) you run into some headaches, but mostly not.  And at least 
you don't run into a whole bunch of package upgrade headaches all at 
once, as you would when upgrading to a new version of a distro.

I've been using Arch for years, and love it - for a number of reasons, 
including the rolling release system.  I don't meaning to gloat, but 
frankly this setup works so nicely, and I've gotten so spoiled by it, 
that I often find myself scratching my head in a combination of 
amusement and disbelief at the various mailing list posts I read about 
problems people run into when upgrading to the latest version of Fedora, 
Ubuntu, etc.

DR