I have been upgrading my parents computer since Fedora 8 by using yum update options.
I decided that before moving to Fedora 12, I should cleanup some of the packages. I decided to use the gui - packagekit and opted for removal of development group and some language packages like arabic which my parents did not need.
Packagekit mentioned that packages depending on these will also be removed. I clicked ok. For a moment, it did seem to me that the number of packages meant for removal was larger than I had expected. Anyway, I could always fix the problem if some needed package was removed.
After 20 minutes or so, packagekit had done its job. I could find very few packages. I decided check what was installed and rpm was missing! yum was missing.
All the rpm packages were present in /var/cache but there was no way I could use them. The machine had no cd drive. Anyway, I found that I had no installation media for Fedora 11.
So, the only option which came to me - clean install Fedora 12. I downloaded the net installation cd. Removed a cd drive from another computer and installed it on my parents computer. The installation is in progress for the last 6 hours.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Dependencies - Shared libraries should be treated differently
I install a package and required dependencies are installed. The package manager may even ask me if that is OK for me. At least I agree without even looking except for the size of the download.
If I want the package, do I have a choice? How much information do I want?
I believe that shared libraries should be handled differently and should be translucent. Package management should highlight dependencies in packages other than shared libraries. We should be able to examine shared library dependencies provided we want to see details.
Treating shared libraries differently can have several advantages:
If I want the package, do I have a choice? How much information do I want?
I believe that shared libraries should be handled differently and should be translucent. Package management should highlight dependencies in packages other than shared libraries. We should be able to examine shared library dependencies provided we want to see details.
Treating shared libraries differently can have several advantages:
- They could be implicitly removed if no package requires them
- If a new package requires a different version of a shared library, it should be possible. It should not force an update of the existing library and a cascading upgrade of various packages.
Removing implicitly installed packages
It is easy to install a new package. Yum/synaptic will find the dependencies and install them.
How about removing a package?
It is hard to remove packages which were installed because of dependencies. E.g. install mplayer and dozens of packages get added. Now, remove mplayer but the packages installed implicitly remain installed.
On Fedora, package-cleanup provides some assistance but not enough.
How about removing a package?
It is hard to remove packages which were installed because of dependencies. E.g. install mplayer and dozens of packages get added. Now, remove mplayer but the packages installed implicitly remain installed.
On Fedora, package-cleanup provides some assistance but not enough.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wanting to test a new version
Package management should make it easy to test some packages. E.g. I would like to try Firefox 3.6.
If I try to use the rawhide repository, it has a dependency problem. I skip packages with dependency problem. It offers to install 14 packages, upgrade 18 packages and skips installing Firefox!
I want to test Firefox, not upgrade Python from 3.6.2 to 3.6.4!
I can and do test the beta version by downloading it from the Mozilla site.
Often end-users will want to test and try packages like firefox, openoffice for small improvements which matter to them. They will not want to figure out the dependency issues of testing a Fedora 13 package on Fedora 12. Nor are they likely to search the OpenOffice or Fedora sites for the beta versions.
Since end users are likely to remain within a distribution, wider testing of common packages needs help from package managers by Fedora and Ubuntu.
Package managers should allow a test version of a common package to be installed easily without getting rid of the stable version and allow users to test and provide feedback on the features that matter to them.
If I try to use the rawhide repository, it has a dependency problem. I skip packages with dependency problem. It offers to install 14 packages, upgrade 18 packages and skips installing Firefox!
I want to test Firefox, not upgrade Python from 3.6.2 to 3.6.4!
I can and do test the beta version by downloading it from the Mozilla site.
Often end-users will want to test and try packages like firefox, openoffice for small improvements which matter to them. They will not want to figure out the dependency issues of testing a Fedora 13 package on Fedora 12. Nor are they likely to search the OpenOffice or Fedora sites for the beta versions.
Since end users are likely to remain within a distribution, wider testing of common packages needs help from package managers by Fedora and Ubuntu.
Package managers should allow a test version of a common package to be installed easily without getting rid of the stable version and allow users to test and provide feedback on the features that matter to them.
Chrome OS Possibilities
Recently, I used a desktop computer on which I had no access. I could boot into the SplashTop desktop environment.
I needed to work on the net and could do my job pretty effectively. So, why should ChromeOS be only for netbooks? I can imagine it being installed on every system as a second OS by default. A pretty nice convenience.
I can imagine it being offered as a VM so that all online financial transactions may be done using a secure VM rather than windows environment. If Google does that, I am sure even Indian banks will no longer say IE only!
I needed to work on the net and could do my job pretty effectively. So, why should ChromeOS be only for netbooks? I can imagine it being installed on every system as a second OS by default. A pretty nice convenience.
I can imagine it being offered as a VM so that all online financial transactions may be done using a secure VM rather than windows environment. If Google does that, I am sure even Indian banks will no longer say IE only!
An Analysis of an Upgrade to Fedora 12
The upgrade to Fedora 12 required over 2gb of download. I wanted to measure some of the changes in the upgrade for my usage.
Number of packages installed increased by 131 packages. (F11:2232, F12:2363)
Some packages like the kernel and gpg-keys have multiple versions installed and some have both x64 and i386 architecture packages installed. Hence, let us consider the unique package names.
Unique package names increased by 121 packages (F11:2087, F12:2208)
26 packages present in F11 were removed, while 147 were added.
Among the common packages, 1289 had the same version in both F11 and F12. They differed in the release value.
Of these, 343 differed in the version after the 2nd decimal place and can be regarded as fairly minor version changes.
62 differed in the major version number and 380 in the first minor version, e.g. gnome desktop going for 2.26.x to 2.28.x. A number of packages, e.g. sugar packages, have a single digit version number.
How many of these 442 packages could not have been incorporated in Fedora 11?
Would delta rpm packages not be feasible across the upgrade?
Could there be better ways of managing packages which can handle additional usage patterns?
I plan to explore some simple usage patterns I have found hard to do with current schemes of distributions. (I am also planning to install Arch linux as an example of a rolling distribution to see if they meet such needs.)
Number of packages installed increased by 131 packages. (F11:2232, F12:2363)
Some packages like the kernel and gpg-keys have multiple versions installed and some have both x64 and i386 architecture packages installed. Hence, let us consider the unique package names.
Unique package names increased by 121 packages (F11:2087, F12:2208)
26 packages present in F11 were removed, while 147 were added.
Among the common packages, 1289 had the same version in both F11 and F12. They differed in the release value.
Of these, 343 differed in the version after the 2nd decimal place and can be regarded as fairly minor version changes.
62 differed in the major version number and 380 in the first minor version, e.g. gnome desktop going for 2.26.x to 2.28.x. A number of packages, e.g. sugar packages, have a single digit version number.
How many of these 442 packages could not have been incorporated in Fedora 11?
Would delta rpm packages not be feasible across the upgrade?
Could there be better ways of managing packages which can handle additional usage patterns?
I plan to explore some simple usage patterns I have found hard to do with current schemes of distributions. (I am also planning to install Arch linux as an example of a rolling distribution to see if they meet such needs.)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
More Roads - Solving the Wrong Problem?
A few days ago, an article reported that we have attained the distinction of having the deadliest roads in the world. The only surprise has been that the statistics are not worse.
Earlier this week, I was moving around in Pune and noticed that there was traffic in all directions. Why?
Next day, I decided to visit my cousin in Delhi on my return. It took two hours in the middle of the day from the airport. On a good day, it takes 45 minutes. We were stuck at one traffic junction for 45 minutes. Why do so many people need to be on the roads?
Should we not be looking at ways to reduce the need to travel?
Children go to school quite far from their homes. A fair number of vehicles at the time of the jam were carrying school children.
It should be easy to rent a place with minimal worries about getting the place vacated when needed. Why force a tenant to vacate every 11 months. My father got his house vacated because he was a retired government servant and that also took a ridiculous number of years! My father had finally filed a court case when his (lawyer) nephew had convinced him - "Has the tenant been bitten by a mad dog that he would leave an independent house in the middle of the town to stay far and pay much more rent?"
Earlier this week, I was moving around in Pune and noticed that there was traffic in all directions. Why?
Next day, I decided to visit my cousin in Delhi on my return. It took two hours in the middle of the day from the airport. On a good day, it takes 45 minutes. We were stuck at one traffic junction for 45 minutes. Why do so many people need to be on the roads?
Should we not be looking at ways to reduce the need to travel?
Children go to school quite far from their homes. A fair number of vehicles at the time of the jam were carrying school children.
It should be easy to rent a place with minimal worries about getting the place vacated when needed. Why force a tenant to vacate every 11 months. My father got his house vacated because he was a retired government servant and that also took a ridiculous number of years! My father had finally filed a court case when his (lawyer) nephew had convinced him - "Has the tenant been bitten by a mad dog that he would leave an independent house in the middle of the town to stay far and pay much more rent?"
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