Newer user to OpenSUSE for the most part. Experienced, long-time user of Linux though.
Having dealt with mixing repositories in other distros sometimes to detrimental results I was hoping someone might provide some general best practices regarding OpenSUSE.
My first specific question: May i use Tumbleweed and associated Packman Tumbleweed repo with other repos such as Contrib? What about other traditionally used OpenSUSE repos that provide updated packages?
My hope is between Contrib, Tumbleweed, and Packman-Tumbleweed I’ll have a non-conflicting, functional package repository setup providing up to date packages without having to enable and risk many if any other repositories.
I haven’t looked at repository contents yet but are things like final release of Firefox 4.0, KDE 4.6.x, etc. expected to be in Tumbleweed?
You should be OK
At least you are aware of the potential issues.
I started using Tumbleweed but later switched to factory-tested and use this with packman and contib
Some times you just have to wait a day or so for packaging to balance up.
Would I perhaps be better off with using Contrib Factory?
I guess my next question is, shouldn’t there probably be a Contrib-Tumbleweed repo? I suspect there should be a new branch for Tumbleweed for all 3rd party repos going forward?
And I’ll repeat a portion of my previous post, what about expected updates to KDE, 4.6.1 for example, and Firefox 4.0 final. Am I going to need to enable the KDE repo or as I suspect these will land in Tumbleweed eventually?
My understanding is that anything in official repositories will eventually be upgraded to their stable upstream releases after testing and in some way eliminate the need for the KDE/Gnome repos. How’s my logic?
I apologize if I am butchering some of the OpenSUSE terminology too (branches/repos/etc). I’ll get there in due time
i have read the info on <http://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Tumbleweed>
(and the FAQ <http://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Tumbleweed/FAQ>)
carefully, and i believe (if i understand that page correctly) that
all Tumbleweed feedback (problems encountered, failures seen, help
questions raised, praise, barbs, successes, requests for clarification
of the expected interaction with (for example) Contrib repos and etc
etc etc) should go directly to the devs, via the Factory mail list
referenced on the portal page…
however, maybe there is enough info given to guess the correct
answer…but i wouldn’t want to guess for you…
–
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[NNTP posted w/openSUSE 11.3, KDE4.5.5, Thunderbird3.1.8, nVidia
173.14.28 3D, Athlon 64 3000+]
“It is far easier to read, understand and follow the instructions than
to undo the problems caused by not.” DD 23 Jan 11
Would I perhaps be better off with using Contrib Factory?
Probably. I do in this situation
About kde, I usually have a factory repo or something, depends on the development status. Unless you understand all this, you might leave it be.
Mozilla the same really.
> My first specific question: May i use Tumbleweed and associated Packman
> Tumbleweed repo with other repos such as Contrib? What about other
> traditionally used OpenSUSE repos that provide updated packages?
Expect problems.
Tumbleweed is factory, delayed or tested a bit. It is actually another
version of the distro, thus not a normal repo that you can mix with 11.4
(even if some do).
Some repos are designed to be mixed with the normal distro, some are not.
> My hope is between Contrib, Tumbleweed, and Packman-Tumbleweed I’ll
> have a non-conflicting, functional package repository setup providing up
> to date packages without having to enable and risk many if any other
> repositories.
“Non-conflicting”, no. Certainly not guaranteed.
> I haven’t looked at repository contents yet but are things like final
> release of Firefox 4.0, KDE 4.6.x, etc. expected to be in Tumbleweed?
To many questions about tumbleweed. As DenverD says, the place to ask is
the factory mail list.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)
No disrespect, but after reading your reply, is a reader to conclude the following intro from:Portal:Tumbleweed - openSUSE is incorrect?
**"Welcome to the Tumbleweed Portal
The Tumbleweed project provides a rolling updates version of openSUSE containing the latest stable versions of all software instead of relying on rigid periodic release cycles. The project does this for users that want the newest, but stable software.
The difference to Factory is that Factory is bleeding edge, often experimental, not yet stabilized software that needs more work to become useful. Tumbleweed contains the latest stable applications and is ready for daily use.
This idea has been discussed in mailing lists for a long time and was conceived into action by Greg Kroah-Hartman."**
Hello and welcome here Mike, reading Portal:Tumbleweed - openSUSE will tell you half the story.
The other half goes like this: Tumbleweed uses the latest stable release as base (11.4 now, 12.1 in one month) so you can add repos from the stable release as well (mixing repos). When 12.1 will be released Tumbleweed will jump to 12.1 as well and you will have to adjust the repo`s used and enabled by you to point at 12.1 as well and after that you will run sudo zypper dup to make an distribution update.
