when you download and install a new distro, does it interfere with your current working programs?
(like my compiler)
also can i download without it having to be a .iso burnable to cd image?
(as I cant seem to get the cd drive mounted on this pc box I am using)
also, i do have a linux distro on a cd, and the drive does boot from that, once i load that, can i then actualy install from that cd?
i am guessing that since in linux programs are separate in their own directories, for settings, as long as that directory stays intact, then its ok?
1/ when I am playing with distros I backup the home directory of my original distro, then install the new distro and restore the programmmes etc from my home directory back to the new home directory. Some programmes only reside in the home directory ( Like WD ) others work further down so you would have to reinstall these programmes on the new distro.
2/ Some users install distros from USB hard drives but never tried this myself
3/ Some distros have an install from the CD version depends on the distro.
4/ So long as the programmes only reside in the home directory then there should be no problem but most programmes will leave the settings in the home directory even if they work further down so when you reinstall it will pick up the settings again from the home directory. For example firefox browser needs to be reinstalled when playing with distros but when you fire it up it will find the old settings in your home directory.
5/ If I update kernal version to be safe I leave the old kernal still installed then in grub I have the boot up setting for old kernal and new kernal in the list.Then if the new kernal has a problem with something I can stiil boot up with the old kernal.
Ok the above are generalisations as with all linux stuff there are some many variations the above may or may not be true. To get round this problem I have two hardisks running in my pc the rock solid distro on one and the playing with distros on the other. So before moving to a new distro I install it on the second hard disk then make sure it does everything I want it to do.If all is OK I then move to the second hardisk. I then never have that moment when I am swearing stomping round the room cos the new distro is crap and my pc dont work learn’t this the hard way… :oops:
my old linux pc is only a CD rom, and a linux distro i have is on dvd
but i could put it on a usb drive (1 gb) from my laptop…and install onto a new(er) HD that I have and then reinstall the programs
i might try that
Unless I’ve been missing something, upgrading between major releases of Linux is usually a case of either:
Rebuild from newly formatted disk
Follow some complex and risky upgrade path not supported by the developers
In my opinion it’s one of the reasons why Linux isn’t yet ready for mass use. If new versions only appeared every few years then it wouldn’t be too bad, but with some distros coming up with new versions once or twice a year it’s just too much hassle to try to keep up on a system that you want to use rather than just being happy tinkering with continually rebuilding/upgrading.
Clean installs tend to work well. The problems often follow upgrades…minor or major. I once had a situation where I wanted to install ‘A’. A said that it needed a newer version of ‘B’. I tried to upgrade B which said it needed a newer version of ‘C’. I tried to upgrade C only to be told that it wasn’t possible because C needed a newer version of A #-o
I tried Mandriva once, but not recently. I suspect you’ll have fun if/when you try to upgrade to the next major release. You’ll probably end up getting a new hard disk, doing a full install and then re-installing all of the software packages you need.
installing software is a pain…you end up with dependency hell, going around in circles, all right
did that when i installed Laraus compiler
took me all day to install, but got there
windows was just 2 mouse clicks
