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Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

meribold.org

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Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#331

Post by genewitch »

WfAjWDYpDHDYCN5 wrote: post #201
Bolkan wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And all the data in your `~/.config`, `~/.cache` will still be in the old format. Linux programs are notoriously bad at handling that kind of things. There is no local data update api like the one provided by android sdk.

s/Linux // Windows isn't any better. I don't have enough Mac experience but I doubt it has some magic bullet.

i did recently boot a windows machine running windows 10 that i unplugged about 3 years ago. It took about 2 hours to fully update on my crap wired internet, but now works fine. i3-7350k with NVME. I was shocked that everything worked so well, i fully expected to have to boot into something and recover the windows install key and do a full reformat-reinstall.

now if i'd do that with something that had the original release of winten, probably not. But i'd happily boot a win7 machine that was >3 years offline.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#332

Post by genewitch »

scarygliders wrote: post #313
Jnr wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I don't need Windows for gaming, I just boot the physical windows partition from Linux using Virtualbox. This way I don't even have to hibernate and interrupt any work.

I have a libvirt VM running Windows with GPU passthrough to the GTX1070 (the main GPU is the RTX 2070 Super) and use looking-glass-client and scream to pass the audio to Linux, which I use for gaming. No need to even multi boot, though I do still have the Windows boot available if I need it, which is rarely.

how is the latency on audio with that setup? I use qemu with GPU passthrough, 1060 on linux and 1070 on windows for a few years now, and i had to buy a laptop to do music production because of the latency. The only other solution was to passthrough a USB soundcard, but about 15 years ago i discovered i can't actually play live notes on a MIDI device with the latency on the USB subsystem.

I've heard of looking glass, but not scream. Will check out, regardless of reply, so thanks!

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#333

Post by lostmsu »

benbristow wrote: post #85
pxeboot wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There actually is an optional installer included with the official installation media now [1]. [1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/archinstall

Quite a good video about it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtWWLN3wGNE Used it to create a dual boot on my main machine and works a charm.

Sounds like the installer is not ready for regular users yet.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#334

Post by MikePlacid »

I am using the “same” MacOS installation since the first Intel Mac Mini (2006?). It has branched out to a dozen or so boxes (3 kids, a wife and a TV set etc). I had to make a clean install on one “leaf” only - a former main computer relegated to video watching (a lot of different video players, torrent clients and such) began crashing once in 2 days. Clean install helped.

But to be fair upgrading a Mac computer consists now of adding your old stuff on top of a new operating system, not adding a new operating system on top of your old stuff. But well…

I had a problem with USB daemon crashing sometimes (probably related to a famous rewrite of the daemon in C++). And most recently - the most shameful M1 related problem with unkillable screen saver wrongfully started when Remote Desktop is in use. (The bug is shameful cause an unkillable screen saver means that design review, code review, QA processes are all broken, and the fact that it was not fixed in a year(!) - means that tech support process is broken too. Looks scary for things to come. M1 is a great processor though).

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#335

Post by manimino »

fonkyyack wrote: post #146
meribold wrote: post #35

I can provide some details regarding the times things did break that I mentioned in the article. * In September 2014, X broke, and I created an `/etc/X11/Xwrapper.config` file with the lines `allowed_users = anybody` and `needs_root_rights = yes` to get it to work again. I don't remember and don't have notes on why that helped. It sure does sound like a pretty terrible hack. I don't have that Xwrapper.config file any…

I had the exact same problems you mentioned! Also, Nvidia gpu drivers are the worst (I was on Manjaro back then) to seeif I could get rid of Windows for gaming purposes. I used Linux for games for about 6 months and had to quit and get back to Windows. I should retry now with all the steam deck fuss!

Been on Manjaro+NVidia for a few years now. Gaming works very well, especially for recent games (2017+). Most "Windows only" games play perfectly. Older games are hit or miss, but misses are pretty rare.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#336

Post by sph »

l72 wrote: post #74

I am currently running Fedora 35. I haven't reinstalled since at least Fedora 21 (maybe older, I can't quite remember)! Every 6 months, I do the standard fedora upgrade and keep on going! This reminds me, it is time to update to Fedora 36!

I get the best of both world. I run Fedora Silverblue, and develop inside an Arch Linux container toolbox. I get the stability and user friendliness of Fedora, an immutable system w/ Silverblue and AUR and all the Arch goodies to develop with.

This is the best workstation setup I've ever had, there's no comparison.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#337

Post by genewitch »

rodolphoarruda wrote: post #57

> "With Ubuntu, I would’ve had to upgrade (...) five times to end up with the latest LTS release.* And these release upgrades don’t always go smoothly either." I read this in the exact moment I was upgrading to 22.04.1 end it stopped due to lack of space in /boot. A rare case of synchronicity in my life.

you have to run apt --autoremove or something. If you don't, debian/ubuntu updates will get slower and slower as it has to rebuild some index for every kernel available on the system. Removing all of the kernels you're no longer using fixes the storage space issue, but i am unsure if apt will freak out if it can't find a kernel it thinks is installed. apt --autoremove will uninstall and de-index all of the old kernels for sure, though.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#338

Post by 3np »

meribold wrote: post #35

I can provide some details regarding the times things did break that I mentioned in the article. * In September 2014, X broke, and I created an `/etc/X11/Xwrapper.config` file with the lines `allowed_users = anybody` and `needs_root_rights = yes` to get it to work again. I don't remember and don't have notes on why that helped. It sure does sound like a pretty terrible hack. I don't have that Xwrapper.config file any…

My first significant Arch install was also pretty long-lived (not 10y but def >5)

Did you go straight to full-on systemd when you installed it? Arch was transitioning to systemd by default around the time of your initial installation (default since Oct 2012 so you would have just missed it if you went with defaults).

Mine was a few years of cruft-accumulation in already and my init system understanding was not super deep at this point so this (together with the glib thing around the same time) is the most disruptive upgrade breakage I recall. If it doesn't show up in your top 5 I'm guessing you dodged it?

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#339

Post by burntsushi »

genewitch wrote: post #330
burntsushi wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hah. The only way it's possible where I live is with a UPS combined with a whole home standby generator. (I got the generator not just for uptimes haha. Got it because we get a lot of outages and we were losing a lot of spoiled goods from our fridge. About half our neighborhood has generators of some kind.)

refrigerators don't really use much power while running. As a joke-y test i ran my refrigerator off of my truck via an inverter connected to the battery terminals and 3 50' extension cords. I think a fridge draws less than a decent GPU while running. You do, however, need a decent inverter to start the compressor running in the fridge, though. Also, a deep freeze that is the top loading style is best for preventing s…

Yeah, our fridge has a top loading freezer. I think that stuff spoiled once during a particularly long outage. We do also have an upright freezer. We purchased that after getting the generator, so the advantage of it keeping stuff frozen longer was less important to us than the convenience of easier access. (And we were okay to sacrifice a bit on capacity too.)

We also have a hot tub and we're in New England. We were worried about a multi-day outage resulting in the tub freezing in the winter. A low probability event, but one that was conceivable.

Both the fridge and the hot tub problems can indeed be resolved with something less than our 16kW generac. The hot tub really just needs a small space heater to be put inside the cabinet to prevent the pipes from freezing. And as you say, fridges don't use much power. So powering those two things (and our upright freezer) would need a pretty small power source.

So absolutely, we overdid it a little. But it's super nice having it kick on when we get an outage. Otherwise I'll be playing the, "is it really worth going out in the snow, lugging out a generator and getting it running if the outage is just an hour?" game. There's also the issue of maintenance, which I'm... not greatest at to be honest. (I have a 2 year old at home and time is just absolutely slipping by. It's hard enough to keep up with normal chores.) The standby generator does a weekly test, so we know whether it's actually working or not.

Yeah, definitely a bit of a luxury, but worth it for us. :-)

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#340

Post by benbristow »

lostmsu wrote: post #333
benbristow wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite a good video about it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtWWLN3wGNE Used it to create a dual boot on my main machine and works a charm.

Sounds like the installer is not ready for regular users yet.

That was a few months ago, there's been improvements since.
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