[CS-FSLUG] Debian, Knoppix, Kanotix, etc.

[Ed Hurst]

Jerry VanBrimmer wrote:
> Ed,
> 
> I don't use nor have I used Knoppix for a long time. But I just had a 
> thought. Is it possible to install Knoppix to the hard drive, and then 
> set it up to track *only* the testing branch? I dunno, just a thought.

With Knoppix, it would be exceedingly hard. As far as I can tell, 
apt-get (package manager) has to know what constitutes a legitimate 
replacement of installed packages. Since Knoppix uses such recent 
release numbers, and testing branch is mostly using lower numbers, I'd 
be waiting a long time for replacement to turn Knoppix into standard 
Debian. With the selection of oddball packages, I suspect the first time 
I ran apt-get after changing the sources.list over to testing, if it 
worked at all, it would want to just about wipe the whole thing because 
of dependencies, and I'd be forced to configure the replacements in the 
Debian fashion. My last experience with Knoppix was a major battle just 
updating from Knopper's unique sources.

With Kanotix, I might come closer, but there are still some occasional 
dependency struggles, because while the packages are mostly standard, 
they are still drawn from unstable and experimental branches.

I noticed a long list of Knoppix derivatives, for just about every 
peculiar emphasis imaginable, but nothing about a generic Debian 
installation.

-- 
Ed Hurst
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