Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

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roamingzebra
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Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

Ubuntu has dropped 32-bit support and is adding unwanted features (e.g., Snap).

Straight Debian is less polished than Ubuntu but I can deal with that. Also, there are distros that use Debian as a base and that ARE polished.

My main question concerns how Debian upgrades are handled. Apparently, it's more complicated than the simple "push of a button" like it is with Ubuntu.

Specifically, I understand the repositories must be manually changed.

Can someone explain in simple terms what the exact process is for upgrading from one STABLE Debian distro to another STABLE Debian distro?

Is it the same process with Debian-based distros like Mint-Debian and MX Linux? Or do those distros handle upgrades in a friendlier way that doesn't involve fiddling with the repository lists?

Clarification: If upgrades primarily just involve changing the repository lists, that's not a problem. But I just read that it's expected that we read a long, terse, official Debian manual to learn the upgrade steps. I took one look at that manual and thought it looks as bad as the Debian website.
Makefile
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Makefile »

Heh, this seems like an odd place to ask such a question.

Yes, I've successfully upgraded before by editing /etc/apt/sources.list to change the "code name" of the distribution from the current to the newer version, and running the apt steps they recommend (update, upgrade and full-upgrade) and had it work. As they mention, you might explicitly have to upgrade your kernel (linux-image-amd64) afterward too as it's more cautious not to upgrade it automatically.

The instructions appear to be complex mostly because they want to cover all bases e.g. where people have added a bunch of third party repositories that might not be compatible, have manually installed .deb files, have pinned things to old versions. Plus, things like custom-compiled kernels, or NVIDIA graphics drivers supporting an old card in the old release but not the new. I'm guessing Ubuntu just hopes for the best when it comes to all that.
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roamingzebra
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

Makefile wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:21 pm Heh, this seems like an odd place to ask such a question.
haha, it felt odd posting it but after seeing all the posts on Windows and Macs, I figured why not.

The personal consumer issue is that staying with Ubuntu would mean buying a new computer that would support 64-bit. The frugal me says why buy a new computer when the old one works fine!

Anyway, thanks for breaking it down for me. I get why the Debian manual might want to cover all bases, but having tried many Linux distros, Debian is the only one that requires one to RTFM. In fact, most distros don't even have a manual. They have enough GUI in them to allow the unititiated to stumble their way to success. ;)
Nekrotok
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Nekrotok »

Just curious, how old is your computer that it doesn't support 64-bit? Pentium 4 era?
phantom0308
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by phantom0308 »

The link below has ama ok explanation of the basic steps.
https://debian-handbook.info/browse/st ... grade.html

It’s basically changing your apt sources to point to the next version, running full upgrade, and cleaning up the crap. I find even with the best upgrades (Ubuntu/Debian) something goes wrong, so I think partitioning up your hard drive so your data is on one partition and your OS is on another is helpful. That way you can start fresh when you move to a new version by writing over the old OS partition. Anything important enough to have between OSs I’d maintain in a git repo.
Blue456
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Blue456 »

roamingzebra wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:13 pm
My main question concerns how Debian upgrades are handled. Apparently, it's more complicated than the simple "push of a button" like it is with Ubuntu.
Why not upgrade by simply formatting the hard drive and installing from scratch? Btw once installed and set up, I loved Debian, very stable and smooth experience.
rantk81
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by rantk81 »

roamingzebra wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:13 pm Ubuntu has dropped 32-bit support and is adding unwanted features (e.g., Snap).
Unless you're using a really exotic/uncommon processor, it sounds like you're probably using a processor that's over a decade old.
If that still meets your needs, that's great. I don't know anything about your financial situation (and there are a lot of merits to being as frugal as one can be), but this might be one area where you could splurge by spending a couple hundred dollars to get new machine. Amazon has a lot of merchants who sell refurbished computers that were previously used in corporate offices, in the price range of about $200. You'll usually get about a 3-5'ish year old i5 with adequate memory and storage. Just something you might want to consider, instead of going down a rabbit-hole of trying to stick to linux distributions that attempt to still support 32-bit systems (with a semi-neglected state of support.)
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roamingzebra
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

rantk81 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:44 am
roamingzebra wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:13 pm Ubuntu has dropped 32-bit support and is adding unwanted features (e.g., Snap).
Unless you're using a really exotic/uncommon processor, it sounds like you're probably using a processor that's over a decade old.
If that still meets your needs, that's great. I don't know anything about your financial situation (and there are a lot of merits to being as frugal as one can be), but this might be one area where you could splurge by spending a couple hundred dollars to get new machine. Amazon has a lot of merchants who sell refurbished computers that were previously used in corporate offices, in the price range of about $200. You'll usually get about a 3-5'ish year old i5 with adequate memory and storage. Just something you might want to consider, instead of going down a rabbit-hole of trying to stick to linux distributions that attempt to still support 32-bit systems (with a semi-neglected state of support.)
it's not a financial issue. It's just that my over-15-year-old computer is very well-made and has never given me any trouble. Perhaps just as important, I've learned a lot of new things in terms of minimizing resource usage in browsers, etc. so that the computer works in the modern world. Also, using 32-bit forces me to be more careful about security.
Bill Bernstein
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Bill Bernstein »

+1 on rantk81; if you're patient, you can get an SSD-less i5 T420s on ebay for around $100 (sometimes sans caddy/mount, which are a few bucks). it'll run ubuntu like the wind.

b
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roamingzebra
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

Blue456 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:20 am
roamingzebra wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:13 pm
My main question concerns how Debian upgrades are handled. Apparently, it's more complicated than the simple "push of a button" like it is with Ubuntu.
Why not upgrade by simply formatting the hard drive and installing from scratch? Btw once installed and set up, I loved Debian, very stable and smooth experience.
I may very well do that. I keep a back-up of the critical Home items, which is all I care about.

But I do try to learn the basics of a system, and before Debian, it didn't require sliogging through a manual. I'm probably exaggerating the unreadability of the manual because I haven't read it. But I've made several attempts in figuring out the upgrade process by lurking in forums, which is my favored way of learning, and never got a clear answer. Last night I came across a post that explained why: people are EXPECTED to read the manual. Perhaps I was tired last night and reading that set me off :) , but I don't see why a Cliff's Note version can't be available in the form of a few bullet points with a note to read the manual if that's not enough.

Makefile's post was a big help in that regard...it essentially told what was in the manual within a single paragraph. That is enough for me to know that much of the manual will not apply to me because I don't have NVIDIA drivers, pinned apps, manually installed .deb files and so on.
Makefile
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Makefile »

roamingzebra wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:24 am
rantk81 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:44 am
roamingzebra wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:13 pm Ubuntu has dropped 32-bit support and is adding unwanted features (e.g., Snap).
Unless you're using a really exotic/uncommon processor, it sounds like you're probably using a processor that's over a decade old.
If that still meets your needs, that's great. I don't know anything about your financial situation (and there are a lot of merits to being as frugal as one can be), but this might be one area where you could splurge by spending a couple hundred dollars to get new machine. Amazon has a lot of merchants who sell refurbished computers that were previously used in corporate offices, in the price range of about $200. You'll usually get about a 3-5'ish year old i5 with adequate memory and storage. Just something you might want to consider, instead of going down a rabbit-hole of trying to stick to linux distributions that attempt to still support 32-bit systems (with a semi-neglected state of support.)
it's not a financial issue. It's just that my over-15-year-old computer is very well-made and has never given me any trouble. Perhaps just as important, I've learned a lot of new things in terms of minimizing resource usage in browsers, etc. so that the computer works in the modern world. Also, using 32-bit forces me to be more careful about security.
So what cpu are you running? Pentium 4? Athlon XP?
There is a whole community dedicated to keeping those going. The issue is not so much 32-bit vs. 64-bit (the "difficulty" of maintaining 32-bit is overblown. Debian still releases for many more exotic things like mips, mipsel, powerpc64, etc.) but missing SSE2 instructions if you have the Athlon XP. If there is any distro that is going to keep running on your machine, it's Debian.
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Kagord
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Kagord »

roamingzebra wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:13 pm Ubuntu has dropped 32-bit support and is adding unwanted features (e.g., Snap).
This is a perfect example of exactly what happens when you have a corporate entity, named after religious law, trying to control what you can and can't have.
Marseille07
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Marseille07 »

Kagord wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:54 am
roamingzebra wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:13 pm Ubuntu has dropped 32-bit support and is adding unwanted features (e.g., Snap).
This is a perfect example of exactly what happens when you have a corporate entity, named after religious law, trying to control what you can and can't have.
Sure, but is dropping 32-bit in 2019 so unreasonable?
Makefile
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Makefile »

Marseille07 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:58 am
Kagord wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:54 am
roamingzebra wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 10:13 pm Ubuntu has dropped 32-bit support and is adding unwanted features (e.g., Snap).
This is a perfect example of exactly what happens when you have a corporate entity, named after religious law, trying to control what you can and can't have.
Sure, but is dropping 32-bit in 2019 so unreasonable?
I think that was sarcasm. But "dropping 32-bit" can mean two things--just not releasing a full distribution ready to install on 32-bit-only hardware, or removing support for 32-bit binaries entirely (Apple-style). The thing is it's all Linux and open source anyway, so if you support the latter case it isn't much harder to support the former, too.
Marseille07
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Marseille07 »

Makefile wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:00 pm I think that was sarcasm. But "dropping 32-bit" can mean two things--just not releasing a full distribution ready to install on 32-bit-only hardware, or removing support for 32-bit binaries entirely (Apple-style). The thing is it's all Linux and open source anyway, so if you support the latter case it isn't much harder to support the former, too.
The support cost is significant imo because you pretty much have to rebuild every package to support 32-bit.
With that said, I think LTS 18.04 has 32-bit support and still maintained, so technically Ubuntu still supports 32-bit today, just not on 19.x or 20.x.
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roamingzebra
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

Makefile wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:48 am So what cpu are you running? Pentium 4? Athlon XP? There is a whole community dedicated to keeping those going.
CPU is Celeron M.
The issue is not so much 32-bit vs. 64-bit (the "difficulty" of maintaining 32-bit is overblown. Debian still releases for many more exotic things like mips, mipsel, powerpc64, etc.) but missing SSE2 instructions if you have the Athlon XP. If there is any distro that is going to keep running on your machine, it's Debian.
For someone new to Debian, it has it's annoyances, but I really respect how it supports older and exotic hardware. Not to mention the half dozen or so desktop environments.

And yet a corporate entity, named after religious law feels its too much trouble to support multiple versions of Chromium. Sigh...
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

Marseille07 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:15 pm
With that said, I think LTS 18.04 has 32-bit support and still maintained, so technically Ubuntu still supports 32-bit today, just not on 19.x or 20.x.
As I understand it, flagship Ubuntu is still being supported, but the different flavors (Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu) have stopped being supported.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Marseille07 »

roamingzebra wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:31 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:15 pm
With that said, I think LTS 18.04 has 32-bit support and still maintained, so technically Ubuntu still supports 32-bit today, just not on 19.x or 20.x.
As I understand it, flagship Ubuntu is still being supported, but the different flavors (Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu) have stopped being supported.
I see. I use Ubuntu MATE myself, but the 32-bit stuff won't be an issue as I'm on 64-bit.

Imo changing the OS to accommodate old hardware is like the tail wagging the dog. My depreciation cycle is 6 years, and although I don't have issues with my current PC, I'll look to upgrade it next year.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by sabtastic »

If you are willing to stick with the default precompiled binaries debian is absolutely fantastic and is probably the most secure option for someone in your situation. It will be a breeze coming from ubuntu since you will already be comfortable with the gnu programs.

Debian 11 is due out later this year and there is a roughly 5 year support cycle for updates. I'm not sure anyone will support 32 bit after 2026 or so but if anyone does, it will be debian.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Makefile »

sabtastic wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:39 pm Debian 11 is due out later this year and there is a roughly 5 year support cycle for updates. I'm not sure anyone will support 32 bit after 2026 or so but if anyone does, it will be debian.
Yeah. For perspective, Debian dropped support for 80486 processors in 8.0 (2015) and Pentium MMX/K6 processors in 9.0 (2017). Not that any actual such machine would have had enough memory to do anything useful with the current release at those points anyway.

A Celeron M, being part of the last batch of 32-bit-only processors made, should be supported by the 32-bit release until the bitter end.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by bhough »

I'm glad you brought this up. I've been thinking about changing ubuntu to debian for the last year and this is the nudge I needed to try. I'll report back. I love Ubuntu/Linux, but it will occasionally lock up requiring me to restart. Have also had a problem now and again with GRUB/GRUB2 when that happened.

I don't like to spend a dollar either, but my vote for you would be to splurge on a new or refurbished machine and either stay with Ubuntu or make two changes at once to Debian. Could buy the new box, see how hard/easy the install is and then still run your old box as a backup before you move all your stuff over to your daily driver.

Good luck!!
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by phantom0308 »

roamingzebra wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:31 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:15 pm
With that said, I think LTS 18.04 has 32-bit support and still maintained, so technically Ubuntu still supports 32-bit today, just not on 19.x or 20.x.
As I understand it, flagship Ubuntu is still being supported, but the different flavors (Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu) have stopped being supported.
Aren’t the different flavors just different desktop managers like kde, xfce, lxde, gnome, unity? Like if you apt install kde on stock Ubuntu you basically have kubuntu.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Marseille07 »

phantom0308 wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:03 pm
roamingzebra wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:31 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:15 pm
With that said, I think LTS 18.04 has 32-bit support and still maintained, so technically Ubuntu still supports 32-bit today, just not on 19.x or 20.x.
As I understand it, flagship Ubuntu is still being supported, but the different flavors (Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu) have stopped being supported.
Aren’t the different flavors just different desktop managers like kde, xfce, lxde, gnome, unity? Like if you apt install kde on stock Ubuntu you basically have kubuntu.
Yeah, though I prefer native support from the get go. Installing Ubuntu (GNOME3) then installing MATE later isn't the same, since the GNOME3 pieces still stay on the disk. It's not straightforward to remove GNOME3 unfortunately.
increment
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by increment »

phantom0308 wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:03 pm Aren’t the different flavors just different desktop managers like kde, xfce, lxde, gnome, unity? Like if you apt install kde on stock Ubuntu you basically have kubuntu.
I believe that KDE (along with the other non-default environments) is from "universe", which contains "free and open source software but Ubuntu doesn’t guarantee ... regular security updates to software in this category."
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by waskiri »

Thank you. I did not know about Snap until I read your post and just purged it.
I used to check the details of every new release of Ubuntu, but I got lazy and did not do my homework in my last upgrade.
In any case, taking a look to Debian as option is good.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Marseille07 »

waskiri wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:22 pm Thank you. I did not know about Snap until I read your post and just purged it.
I used to check the details of every new release of Ubuntu, but I got lazy and did not do my homework in my last upgrade.
In any case, taking a look to Debian as option is good.
What's wrong with snap? I don't understand your knee-jerk reaction here. I don't use snap much, but some packages are only available there so I install those.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

Marseille07 wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:49 pm What's wrong with snap? I don't understand your knee-jerk reaction here. I don't use snap much, but some packages are only available there so I install those.
For someone like me with a low-spec system, Snap just adds bloat.

Based on downloading Chromium, the file was massively bigger. That affected download time and disk space. I ended up deleting it.

I'm not sure if additional RAM is needed for Snap, but just the download time was a turnoff for me.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by oldlongbeard »

I highly recommend MXLinux. They have a 32 bit release, and do not install Snapd by default. It is lightning fast on old hardware, and is pretty straightforward to use, ala Ubuntu. Just my experience..... and a bunch of others, since it is now top dog at Distrowatch.

Regards,
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quantAndHold
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by quantAndHold »

I would just get a 64 bit box. The 64 bit hardware has some security updates that I wouldn’t want to go without in this day and age.
Marseille07
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Marseille07 »

roamingzebra wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:27 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:49 pm What's wrong with snap? I don't understand your knee-jerk reaction here. I don't use snap much, but some packages are only available there so I install those.
For someone like me with a low-spec system, Snap just adds bloat.

Based on downloading Chromium, the file was massively bigger. That affected download time and disk space. I ended up deleting it.

I'm not sure if additional RAM is needed for Snap, but just the download time was a turnoff for me.
I really suggest upgrading hardware. Even if you don't use snapd, modern hardware provides much better experience.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by crg11 »

quantAndHold wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:45 pm I would just get a 64 bit box. The 64 bit hardware has some security updates that I wouldn’t want to go without in this day and age.
Not to mention it's going to be harder and harder to get software maintained for a 32-bit OS. Which would worry me that there are vulnerabilities that aren't being found.

Nowadays you can get an amazingly capable, fast, and quiet machine for cheap and would probably last nearly as long as your current machine.

It's time for an upgrade.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by starboi »

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

phantom0308 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 3:21 am The link below has ama ok explanation of the basic steps.
https://debian-handbook.info/browse/st ... grade.html
Taken from that handbook is this passage:
NOTE Repository information changes
When a new stable version of Debian is released, some fields in the Release and InRelease files of a repository change, like the Suite field. When this happens, downloading data from the repository is declined until the change is confirmed to ensure the user is prepared for it. To confirm the change use the --allow-releaseinfo-change or --allow-releaseinfo-change-field options for apt-get or the Acquire::AllowReleaseInfoChange configuration option.
It's referring to fields in the Release and inRelease files. Where can I go about finding these files? I realize that isn't necessary as long as one simply follows the apt-get steps outlined above. But I'm curious where the Release and inRelease files are.
increment
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by increment »

These are part of the descriptive data downloaded by apt, e.g. from http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/InRelease. I believe that you would get either Release or InRelease files (the latter includes a relevant PGP signature), but not both. You can see them in /var/lib/apt/lists, although they are not really meant for human consumption. The file names themselves include the server and other descriptive information, as specified in /etc/apt/sources.list (or in files found in /etc/apt/sources.lists.d).
jhsu802701
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by jhsu802701 »

I'm surprised that Ubuntu runs on a 15-year-old PC. I wouldn't run anything heavier than TinyCore or Puppy Linux on something that old and slow.

The Ubuntu base has a higher overhead. Installing Ubuntu or any of its derivatives on a 15-year-old PC is like installing the tiny 3-cylinder Smart Fortwo engine under the hood of a hypermassive 1972 Chrysler Imperial.

I prefer distros based on Debian but not Ubuntu because they're so much faster given the same hardware. MX Linux is lightweight AND supports 32-bit computing.

That said, I think it's time to move on to 64-bit computing. Support for 32-bit computing is already low and drops lower each year.

It's time to buy a newer PC that can handle 64-bit computing. You don't even need to spend $200. I've been able to find nice used PCs around 5 years old for as little as $50 to $100. It helps if the PC does NOT come with Windows, because that means the seller has to drop the price in order to unload it.

Maybe someone you know has an old PC and is willing to give it to you for free. Not many people are interested in acqiuring a 10-year-old PC, not even myself.
Last edited by jhsu802701 on Wed Jun 23, 2021 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by phantom0308 »

Ubuntu is great because it has a larger user base than most other distros. If you’re only using your computer for tasks like watching videos or browsing, then that’s not as useful a feature.

If you’re spending your time on stack overflow trying to figure out how to set up tools for developing software or unbreak your computer because you did that badly, it’s super useful. Debian also has a big user base so the argument doesn’t apply there, but I wouldn’t choose some obscure fork just for hardware support.

With all these things there’s a spectrum of convenience. The joke is, “Linux is free if your time has no value”. I’ve used Ubuntu at my last three jobs so the time spent has value to me and hobby programming is just way easier on Linux. If someone asked me what to get to do most basic things I’d probably recommend Windows.
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roamingzebra
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by roamingzebra »

increment wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:26 pm These are part of the descriptive data downloaded by apt, e.g. from http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/InRelease. I believe that you would get either Release or InRelease files (the latter includes a relevant PGP signature), but not both. You can see them in /var/lib/apt/lists, although they are not really meant for human consumption. The file names themselves include the server and other descriptive information, as specified in /etc/apt/sources.list (or in files found in /etc/apt/sources.lists.d).
Thank you! That's helpful. It helps to see how things hang together.

Just seeing commands without any context isn't as instructive.
Marseille07
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Re: Considering a Move from Ubuntu to Debian (Linux)

Post by Marseille07 »

phantom0308 wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:37 am Ubuntu is great because it has a larger user base than most other distros. If you’re only using your computer for tasks like watching videos or browsing, then that’s not as useful a feature.

If you’re spending your time on stack overflow trying to figure out how to set up tools for developing software or unbreak your computer because you did that badly, it’s super useful. Debian also has a big user base so the argument doesn’t apply there, but I wouldn’t choose some obscure fork just for hardware support.
You're correct. I can't believe some folks measure popularity based on Distrowatch. Their PV/day metric is one aspect, but they'd be crazy to somehow think that there are more Pop!_OS and EndeavourOS users than Ubuntu because their PV/day is higher on Distrowatch.
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