how often do you re-install?

**jme** · 05-25-2004, 06:22 PM

Well, Im comming around to the realisation that Im needing to reinstall SLack on my laptop as the / partitioon is at 91% and im sure that half of the stuff I have on here I dont need.

So how often do you re-install - I went through a real install fest about four months ago and was reinstalling and experimenting with different configurations every other day, but recently I haven't done one for over two months.

Lets see...

**kungfuramone9** · 05-25-2004, 06:37 PM

I resist the urge to reinstall. Being a dyed-in-the-wool Debianite, there's rarely a technical reason that I *have to* anyway, and I realized a while back that it takes more skill to upgrade most Linux systems than it does to reinstall from scratch. Being decently versed in apt / dpkg is ultimately more useful than knowing the install sequence with my eyes closed.

That being said, I do enjoy a Sunday afternoon spent with a six-pack and a fresh system to build up. Geek for life! Represent!

**Fatal Error** · 05-25-2004, 06:47 PM

For awhile there it was several times a day! But as I learn,things seem to work better and better.

My biggest problem was installing distros that did not have everything to run some app. I don't know what to do to fix those problems other than to install another distro.

**Stween** · 05-25-2004, 11:05 PM

Close to annually. I'm planning on installing Debian on at least one machine in the next few weeks, so perhaps that'll be the last reinstall that machine will ever see

Wouldn't bet on it though

I install roughly once a year because a year is enough time to run a system into the ground when you just throw things together like I do (hey, it's only software :P ) Plus, reinstalling between years at uni gives a system time to settle before I get back into 60+ hour weeks. Don't know what I do when I leave uni and enter the Real World :shock: Perhaps I'll just never leave

**beezlebubsbum** · 05-25-2004, 11:16 PM

I like to reinstall, but I hate having to redo all of my personal settings (you know, themes, font sizes, fonts, misc. setting). I don't have a CD-Burner, so backing things up is a pain in the arse!

**cabu** · 05-26-2004, 02:09 AM

I used to have a once a week habit. Trying out different distros or just plain messing one up. But, I've been running debian-sarge for about 4 months now and love it. While swaret, yum, yast, and the likes seem to work good, apt-get and dpkg just work for me.

**jme** · 05-26-2004, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by beezlebubsbum

I like to reinstall, but I hate having to redo all of my personal settings (you know, themes, font sizes, fonts, misc. setting). I don't have a CD-Burner, so backing things up is a pain in the arse!

Iget around this with the majority of programs (and wm) by having my /home partition on a seperate partition on the drive. When I reinstall I leave that partition out all together and when the system is up and running add the partition to the /fstab and mount it (after creating my normal user) and hey-presto all of my settings are back to what they where pre-re-install!!

Jamie

**Stween** · 05-26-2004, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by jme

Iget around this with the majority of programs (and wm) by having my /home partition on a seperate partition on the drive. When I reinstall I leave that partition out all together and when the system is up and running add the partition to the /fstab and mount it (after creating my normal user) and hey-presto all of my settings are back to what they where pre-re-install!!

That's exactly how it should always be done

The data on my /home partition (now migrated to another system & accessed via NFS) has lasted through a number of distro's, and now two machines 8)