debian upgrade frequency

[snodgrss1984]

how often would i need to download a new iso of debian ... or can i always use what i have installed and just do apt dist upgrades

[Oscar799]

Moved here from main forum

[snodgrss1984]

thank you i just thought this was newbie anyways let me know if you can help me

[wyrdoak]

As far as I know as long as you keep up the update packets you should not have to reinstall a new ISO.
I'm tracking Debian testing for now. I use Clonezilla to backup every so often so if something goes really bad I can just go back to my last backup and start over from there.

BTW: If I remember right after the latest stable update packet they usually re-spin the ISO so if you have to reinstall for some reason you shouldn't have many update after the reinstall.

[snodgrss1984]

thank you do you think updating the kernal too a newer one when the new system comes out will make the system fail like in ubuntu based edition or has it worked for you

[wyrdoak]

personally with the power problem I was having with the other kernels I seem to have less problems using the liquorix kernel, since someone turned me on to it. http://liquorix.net if you set it up like on the page, it should update itself,independently from the Mint update packets, so far no problems.

[snodgrss1984]

i dont mind updating i actually like it but thank you for the advice i appriciate it .... just wondering if a new kernal will fault the whole system in debian

[wayne128]

i dont mind updating i actually like it but thank you for the advice i appriciate it .... just wondering if a new kernal will fault the whole system in debian

Not sure if you ask about straight Debian or Mint Debian?

[wyrdoak]

If there is a problem with the new kernel you can default back to the last kernel by selecting it in your Grub, The system keeps the older kernel until you remove it.

[snodgrss1984]

ither way there both now debian machines all i have to do is learn wine and its mint debian the way debian should be

[snodgrss1984]

im using the 3.0 kernal it works but i mean later will upgrading the kernal after system use cause the system to be corrupt

[zerozero]

kernel update have a risk in itself, but that risk is somehow diminished since you keep the previous one and you are always able to boot onto one of then in the grub splash.

most of the times kernel updates bring better hardware compatibility and driver support, so there's really no need to fear them.

[snodgrss1984]

thats awesome i can just always upgrade not need iso's now to learn wine or emulate windows

[wyrdoak]

i dont mind updating i actually like it but thank you for the advice i appriciate it .... just wondering if a new kernal will fault the whole system in debian

Not sure if you ask about straight Debian or Mint Debian?

On Mint Debain, I've been running wheezy[testing}for almost 3mths maybe 4mths and the liquorex kernel[SID}, so don't really don't know what I'm running now.

[snodgrss1984]

lol i may try that kernal if my system fails ever

[gavinhc]

snodgrss, to answer your kernel upgrade question, I have been running LMDE since January 2011 and have gone through many kernel upgrades on the same install (2.6.32, 2.6.38, 2.6.39, 3.0, and 3.1 and a brief period where I tracked the Liquorix kernels) and have never had a problem with instability after the updates. In the 3.0 to 3.1 transition, I did think there was a problem with the new kernel, but it turned out to be an issue with the Nvidia drivers that was fixed by a driver update 2 days later.

I should note that I have been tracking testing this whole time, but the kernels you get in Latest/Incoming are the same we get in testing.

[snodgrss1984]

WOW thats awesome i love the long lasting debian i look forward to learning more and saving them in a commands file so i can use debian for a long time and learn how to game on here with wine too... i mean whats better then a new system without a reinstall and a system that is this stable and not prone to viruses