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10-17-2014, 04:35 PM
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#1
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 32
Rep:
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Rolling Release Distro with automatic updates?
I'm looking for a rolling release type of distro that automatically updates in the background. This will be for my parents and primarily the will be in the browser. I don't want to them ever have to update it them self because it will never get updated. Hopefully popular enough so it won't die anytime soon  . I was looking for a rolling release version of ubuntu but didn't find anything.
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10-17-2014, 04:44 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Registered: May 2011
Location: Hiding somewhere on planet Earth.
Distribution: No distribution. OpenBSD operating system
Posts: 1,711
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Your post suggests your parents are either not knowledgeable enough to manage a system or they know how, but do not want to spend time configuring a system. Instead of a rolling release that continually introduces new, and often unstable, software, you might want to consider giving them a stable system that they can rely on for years to come.
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10-17-2014, 04:53 PM
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#3
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 32
Original Poster
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus
Your post suggests your parents are either not knowledgeable enough to manage a system or they know how, but do not want to spend time configuring a system. Instead of a rolling release that continually introduces new, and often unstable, software, you might want to consider giving them a stable system that they can rely on for years to come.
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Yep they have a hard enough time figuring out email as long as maintaining a computer and yes i don't want to have to go over there monthly to update their system. A rolling release stability i think would be fine because primarily they will just be using a browser. I'm going to wipe a labtop they have XP installed on (which shouldn't be used anymore)
Last edited by ncage; 10-17-2014 at 04:54 PM.
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10-17-2014, 05:06 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Registered: May 2011
Location: Hiding somewhere on planet Earth.
Distribution: No distribution. OpenBSD operating system
Posts: 1,711
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Then you want to install a stable system, configure it to suit their needs, then let them enjoy it. I do not know about rpm systems, but Debian-based systems can be configured to automatically receive security updates. A rolling release requires attention from the user, so would not be the best choice for them.
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10-17-2014, 06:35 PM
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#5
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LQ Muse
Registered: Aug 2005
Location: A2 area Mi.
Posts: 17,710
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then you DO NOT !!! want a rolling release like Arch
your parents will have to be able to FIX the issues that WILL pop up
use something STABLE
pay for "SUSE Enterprise Linux Desktop" 11 service pack3
or
if you can do your own tech support
OpenSUSE 13.1
SUSE targets the business office as there primary user base
with OpenSUSE as a good FREE home system
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10-17-2014, 07:08 PM
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#6
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 32
Original Poster
Rep:
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I guess i'm underestimating stability problems with a rolling release. To be honest i'm about to give arch a shot myself so i guess i'll find out  . The concepts of a rolling release are just so enticing considering you never essentially have to upgrade your system if that comes at the price of a really unstable system then i can see why your trying to turn me away from a rolling release system. Maybe i'll put Xubuntu on their system and see how that goes because i absolutely hate unity and how bloated and sluggish it feels.
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10-17-2014, 07:27 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Registered: May 2011
Location: Hiding somewhere on planet Earth.
Distribution: No distribution. OpenBSD operating system
Posts: 1,711
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ncage
The concepts of a rolling release are just so enticing considering you never essentially have to upgrade your system
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Actually, the system is continuously upgraded. That is why there are no new releases.
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10-17-2014, 07:28 PM
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#8
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Member
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 32
Original Poster
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus
Actually, the system is continuously upgraded. That is why there are no new releases.
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Yes an i know...thats what i was trying to say...
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10-17-2014, 07:32 PM
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#9
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LQ Muse
Registered: Aug 2005
Location: A2 area Mi.
Posts: 17,710
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i would bet that your parents would not like Arch
i have my Mom using opensuse 13
she likes the "cool" graphics and can play the games she wants
-- PySol and mahjong solitaire mostly
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10-17-2014, 08:59 PM
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#10
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Dec 2004
Posts: 20
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ncage
I'm looking for a rolling release type of distro that automatically updates in the background. This will be for my parents and primarily the will be in the browser. I don't want to them ever have to update it them self because it will never get updated. Hopefully popular enough so it won't die anytime soon  . I was looking for a rolling release version of ubuntu but didn't find anything.
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Sounds like a Google Chromebook Linux : )
Google Chromebooks are Gentoo Linux, they auto-update, and are primarily just a browser. Plus online web-app store where you can install solitaire, watch/rent Netflix/Youtube videos, webcam video-conference family/grand-kids etc. etc. etc.
Just ensure the home has good wireless coverage as the Chromebooks are useless without Internet.
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10-17-2014, 10:10 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Registered: Feb 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: Debian Wheezy, Jessie, Sid/Experimental, playing with LFS.
Posts: 2,900
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I'd go something like Debian Stable with Backports enabled (even Ubuntu has a backports that allows for more up to date software). You can set it to update automatically.
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10-18-2014, 03:24 PM
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#12
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Jul 2006
Location: London
Distribution: PCLinuxOS, Salix
Posts: 6,268
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The one rolling release that is not bleeding-edge is PCLinuxOS: it's very much aimed at the home user:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/review...p/product/3024
http://www.pclinuxos.com/
and the only Linux with a magazine (complete with a cookery recipe!)
http://pclosmag.com/index.html
An alternative is a distro with a reasonably long term support policy: Mint will get bug-fixes for the next 5 years.
If they're used to XP, then I'd give them the Mate or Xfce desktop: something like Gnome would be a culture-shock, let alone Unity!
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10-19-2014, 01:36 AM
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#13
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Member
Registered: Oct 2012
Location: The Czech Republic
Posts: 280
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ncage
Yep they have a hard enough time figuring out email as long as maintaining a computer and yes i don't want to have to go over there monthly to update their system. A rolling release stability i think would be fine because primarily they will just be using a browser. I'm going to wipe a labtop they have XP installed on (which shouldn't be used anymore)
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All the reasons to use stable LTS type system. The inherent instability of rolling release isn't in new applications, but in the underlying plumbing - kernel, xorg etc.
So IMO you would be much better setting up some Debian with backported webbrowser or *buntu LTS or something like that.
AFAIK you can set any distro to update automatically with a cron job and an 'assume-yes' option of your package manager.
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10-22-2014, 05:30 AM
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#14
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LQ Guru
Registered: Jul 2011
Location: California
Distribution: Slackware64-15.0 Multilib
Posts: 6,584
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If you need an automatic updated browser install Firefox Nightly into a directory like /opt and give full permissions to the user on it. Any distribution will do. Nightly updates daily even after you close the browser, it updates on the next launch and rechecks it's version to the Mozilla database.
Get them a stable distribution that's not too flashy and easy to use also.
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10-22-2014, 06:42 AM
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#15
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Member
Registered: Jun 2014
Distribution: quad BOOT!
Posts: 549
Rep: 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ncage
rolling release
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http://manjaro.org/get-manjaro/
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