I am wondering if I am alone in thinking Suse need to reconsider the UPGRADE option that exists on an install disk?
Personally I have always found it a disastrous experience and end up needing to re-install from scratch. Usually after a tantalizing/frustrating period trying to fix the (for me) unfixable.
Maybe if this poll shows a strong feeling there will be some other approach discussed?
For example - flagging manually changed configs (there can’t be that many?) to make the configuring of a fresh install somewhat easier.
IMHO I think the quality (success rate) of the UPGRADE function is so poor it should be ditched. Otherwise a real effort is needed to make it really cope with architecture changes (in releases) and systems that have auto updated over time (or not). I would rate myself as competent, not a guru, but I persevere - if linux is going to broaden its appeal, it has to become easier!
> I am wondering if I am alone in thinking Suse need to reconsider the
> UPGRADE option that exists on an install disk?
I was always told…‘don’t do it’…so I haven’t, and it really
isn’t SuSE, Linux or even OS specific advice.
The process I have used to upgrade Linux OS’ is to keep /home separate from
the OS (I think it lays it out by default that way in SuSE).
You can then install fresh without formatting /home, mount it up and
go about your business. It’s worked for me.
One BIG problem comes in when you upgrade is that sometimes they will
totally change the default programs. For instance when they made the
switch from Sendmail to Postfix. or some drastic jump with Bind. Talk about
nutting up an upgrade. Not only will it fail, you also get to learn a
completely new application. I did that when I was very new to the Linux
scene. I learned some important lessons on that one, but it all ended
well.
Instead of an upgrade option, which I don’t see having a very high success
rate. Perhaps they should have a dissertation included on how to
accomplish a data/settings migration when moving to a newer version with a
big Print This! icon like they do with once click install. Might
be more productive than writing code to assess the myriad of conf files and
installed apps and determining what is going to break…which would likely
be akin to field validation in Javascript. Ack.
I’ve never encountered a problem with the InstallCD Upgrade function as long as I first remove any and all 3rd party packages. That is a must. Most people skip over this step and it causes all sorts of issues.
Interesting, do you mean the likes of vlc,Mplayer, & the like?
In essence are you saying that you take it down to the the core install(with updates up to that point)?
Not a problem here. If there are some problem with package from the older version you need to roll-up your sleeves and do some manual modification during the installation.
I’m not sure for 11.0 I just(clicked install) installed it over my 10.3 install then it kept my home folder & all of its contents. I had to reinstall vlc,mplayer,& such. Is that considered a clean install? Or is a clean install where one completely wipes the HDD,then installs?
This is one of those things I should know, but don’t.
> I’m not sure for 11.0 I just(clicked install) installed it over my 10.3
> install then it kept my home folder & all of its contents. I had to
> reinstall vlc,mplayer,& such. Is that considered a clean install? Or is
> a clean install where one completely wipes the HDD,then installs?
> This is one of those things I should know, but don’t.
You don’t have to wipe the HDD to get a clean install, but you do have to
eliminate the previous installed OS, wherever that may be located.
It may entail reinstalling apps, but that depends on the app and its
requirements. An application that can live autonomously might be unaffected
if it resided under your home directory, whereas the nVidia driver would
have to be reinstalled. Even these scenarios are too messy for some people,
so they will install on a new drive/system and migrate only the data files
they want into the new setup. Upgrading is as much personal preference as
anything I suppose.
G of Borg,
Thanks! I can go vote now. I wiped off the HDD for 10.2 to 10.3 thinking that was a clean install. Well…come to think of it that would be clean. However, by keeping my home & installing 11.0 over 10.3 like I did this time that is a clean one too. It was great not to have to reput in Fx bookmarks & extensions!
This is fine as long as you kept your /home this is normally referred to as a clean install.
Not usually a problem when moving up 1 version. Can be tricky if going from a very old version.
In which case it is probably better to backup data and then wipe the drives then put back the data
The main thing about upgrading is to remember to know your packages, and know how to resolve dependencies. Naturally, you want to convert all your previous repos over to the current version to minimize dependency conflicts.
I have done it, and can do it. It just takes me longer to resolve dependencies than it does to do a clean install.