On Sun, Sep 17, 2017 at 04:56:13PM -0400, Steve Litt wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Sep 2017 07:49:28 +0200
> arne <sp113438@???> wrote:
>
> > Another problem with systemd and I will switch to devuan.
>
> I advise not to wait. Systemd's architecture is so overcomplexified
> that it takes a highly paid crew of what, six developers, to keep it
> from blowing up. Would you want a battery like that in your cellphone?
> Would you want an engine like that in your car? Would you want software
> like that as the basis of your computer's boot and process handling?
>
> To the extent that systemd appears to work, that's only because Redhat
> spends so much time and resource putting bubblegum in the leaks. I'd
> advise to switch immediately to a trustworthy init and a trustworthy
> distro.
>
> [snip frustrating systemd problem]
>
> > I am feeling a pain in my heart if I have to leave debian.
>
> You're not leaving Debian: Debian left you. The former bastion of
> rock-solid software went to the dark side, and really isn't Debian
> anymore. Devuan is the closest you're going to get to having the Debian
> you knew and loved before their subjegation by Freedesktop.Org.
>
> >
> > It was my companion for 10 years.
> >
> >
> > Now the question: I run debian stretch.
> > is it hard to switch to devuan or is a new install preferred?
>
> Arne, a bunch of people have answered this question as it relates to
> Debian->Devuan. I'm going to answer it as a generality...
>
> I view a complete, bare-metal-up reinstall as an opportunity. An
> opportunity to get back to a known state. An opportunity to eliminate
> ghosts of operating systems past. I view it as spring cleaning, and as
> such I think one fresh install per year is about perfect, although when
> I used Windows and when I used KDE apps, every 6 months was more
> appropriate.
>
> Yeah, it takes a day or more, and you keep getting nailed by "gotchas"
> for a couple weeks. It's a process that takes planning and meticulous
> backup. But it's a way to keep your computer healthy.
>
> The following is a partial list of what you must back up:

Make *two* backups of all this, in cse one of them fails.

>
> * Complete backup, so you can "put it back" if everything goes to hell
>
> * Backup of MBR, or whatever the equivalent is on the new formats
>
> * Backup of /etc/fstab and inittab and passwd and group
>
> * Backup of /etc as a whole (not to be restored en masse)
>
> * Backup of output of mount command
>
> * Backup of output (as root) of lsblk -o +UUID,LABEL
>
> * Backup of output of command to find packages you personally installed
>
> * Backup of your data (not provided with any software)
>
> Then go ahead and reformat your disk, add disk space if needed, make
> all your partitions, do the install, update/upgrade, install all your
> manually installed packages (probably by turning the list into a
> shellscript).
>
> DO NOT just restore your former home directory. One estupido piece of
> Unix is the mixing of personal data (stuff you've written or made) with
> config options. You want the latest config options, and then change
> them to conform with how you like things. You DO NOT want to be
> continually bringing forward config files 5 versions old. I always
> restore my old home as /home/oldslitt, and then copy files over on an
> as needed basis. On config changes, I edit the files in /home/slitt to
> incorporate specific features from /home/oldslitt.
>
> <RANT>Dennis Thompson and the boys really, really, REALLY should have
> specified that every home directory have a subdirectory called etc, and
> every and all config that gets done in the home directory get done in
> the /home/slitt/etc tree. This would have saved a lot of work and
> prevented a lot of ghosts of operating systems past, but nooooooo. Wait
> right there while I take my time machine back to 1969 and convince
> Dennis to do this.</RANT>
>
> SteveT
>
> Steve Litt
> September 2017 featured book: Manager's Guide to Technical
> Troubleshooting Brand new, second edition
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/mgr
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