Some questions about Opensuse updates

English Open Chat
1

Hello

I have installed in my laptop Opensuse 11.3 and I have the following questions for you:

  1. Do you know why the kernel is being updated so slowly ?

For example my kernel version is 2.6.34.10-0.2-desktop, but the most recent stable one is the 2.6.39.4.
Is it related with the fact that, for example, the graphic interface or something else can act strangely because the kernel version is very recent?

Maybe because the kernel version must be “absolutely stable” for the distribution version installed?

In the site kernel.org I can see that there are two different kernels : stable and long-term. What is the difference?

  1. Besides the packman repository, are there others “interesting” even if are not officials?

  2. Why the general program updating process is so slow (KDE, Firefox,etc)? For example, now Firefox is at its 6.0 version, but in these days my “online update” function was capable to install only the version 3.6.20!!! Same situation with KDE, the one installed is the 4.4.4.

Why this delay? Why do I need to add another repository so as to update Firefox?

  1. My repositories are the following:

1 Opensuse-11.3-Non-Oss
2 Packman
3 Updates for openSUSE 11.3 11.3-1.82
4 openSUSE-11.3 11.3-1.82
5 repo-oss
6 repo-source

Apart the most known programs, in these repositories I can find a lot of little ones, for example:

**yaz - Z39.50/SRW/SRU Programs

This package contains both a test-server and clients (normal & ssl) for the ANSI/NISO Z39.50 protocol for Information Retrieval. SRW and SRU clients and servers are also supported.
Authors:
Adam Dickmeiss <adam@indexdata.dk>xample:**

The description is not exhaustive at all !!! It is very difficult to understand how it works and how it can be used proficiently. Do you know where is it possible to find a good documentation for them?

Last thing: why there are so many libraries!!! There are thousands of them!!! If someone wants to create software (using gcc++ for example), how should he know which libraries use?

Regards

Fabrizio

2

You could add the mozilla repo from the community list
And do this
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Switcher%20Pics/mozilla-switch.png

Kernel
Consider
S.A.K.C. - SUSE Automated Kernel Compiler - Version 2.50 - Blogs - openSUSE Forums

3

On 1): openSUSE releases come with a certain kernel version. That’s the version that will be updated with patches and security fixes. BTW it’s already been quite a while since kernel 3.0 was released.

Reading the rest of your post, I suggest you tale a look at openSUSE Tumbleweed. The best way is to perform a clean 11.4 install, then move to Tumbleweed. There’s a Tumbleweed subforum here.

4

Thank you for your prompt answers!!!

I have to say that I left out this “openSUSE Tumbleweed”, and I will delve into this topic a bit more.

By the way, Is it risky updating from Opensuse 11.3 to 11.4?

In my laptop I have installed ,in the first had drive, Windows Vista and in the second one Opensuse 11.3. If I try to update my system, in this configuration, will I loose anything? Will I compromize any previous driver?

Regards

Fabrizio

5

By the way, Is it risky updating from Opensuse 11.3 to 11.4?

In my laptop I have installed ,in the first had drive, Windows Vista and in the second one Opensuse 11.3. If I try to update my system, in this configuration, will I loose anything? Will I compromize any previous driver?

Personally I always do a fresh install and format /home
It is possible to update, but be aware that every installation is different and compared to others, YMMV
SDB:System upgrade - openSUSE