Whether to Upgrade to a new Version

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Dookus
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Whether to Upgrade to a new Version

#1 Post by Dookus »

Hi all.

Due to having some time and being able to use that to install Puppy Slacko on some machines that were garbage specs, but working, I mused over whether it was worth upgrading my Laptop to the newer version of Slacko, the idea that we need to have the latest of anything comes from vendors keen to take our money, so no pressure should be felt except to gain better functionality when it comes to any Distro (IMO) which I would not as far as I can see, Laptop is fully supported, is fast, I have been able to install the programs I need that are not shipped or not available to install, connectivity is reliable, the latest Slacko looks good, but is it better? better to the point of being a must have? seems a lot of the improvements are in the Kernel? :arrow:

Not a compliant, some of the fun in Linux for me was seeing what is new, how it works, what a distro was doing to make an impact, but I have found that using Puppy changes that somewhat, the joy in Puppy for me is having an alternative that works and also makes me happy to use something that was destined to oblivion, yet now serves me well.

so why would I?

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bigpup
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#2 Post by bigpup »

The newer versions of Puppy do have some improvements to core programs and processes. They do provide better support for new hardware.

With computers, the old saying "If it's not broken don't fix it", is a good rule to follow.

The good thing about Puppy is, you can just download the version you want and try it. It may work better on your hardware, it may not.

Newer Puppies are still not fully bug fixed like older Puppies are, however a newer version of a specific Puppy is usually a bug fix update.
Do you need it? Sure if it fixes a bug that you are dealing with.

You seem to be at a point where getting a newer version, is not a need, but just something to check out and see what it does.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

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mikeb
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#3 Post by mikeb »

The world suffers from update madness....

If its fine as it is than leave alone I would say. Our day to day system is based on a 5 year old release. Many here are finding Lucid from 2010 a solid system that they keep on using even though words of antique hysteria fly about. Security is mainly hard sell hogwash.... you have to find some way to obsolete in order to sell more...funny how the world of free software suffers with this too.

New realeases tend to mean new bugs.... new hardware might apply if you bought a brand new laptop ... but a there probably is not a driver yet and b. you can have a driver built for it on an older tested system if you want.
Actually the new hardware syndrome seems to have slowed down since the market is pushing such things like andriod/tablets/embedded systems and it fulfilled its purpose of getting users to buy windows vista/7/8. Biggest headache is usually Intel pi**ing around with video.

Just my humble opinion :D

mike

darry1966

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEp!

#4 Post by darry1966 »

mikeb wrote:The world suffers from update madness....

If its fine as it is than leave alone I would say. Our day to day system is based on a 5 year old release. Many here are finding Lucid from 2010 a solid system that they keep on using even though words of antique hysteria fly about. Security is mainly hard sell hogwash.... you have to find some way to obsolete in order to sell more...funny how the world of free software suffers with this too.

New realeases tend to mean new bugs.... new hardware might apply if you bought a brand new laptop ... but a there probably is not a driver yet and b. you can have a driver built for it on an older tested system if you want.
Actually the new hardware syndrome seems to have slowed down since the market is pushing such things like andriod/tablets/embedded systems and it fulfilled its purpose of getting users to buy windows vista/7/8. Biggest headache is usually Intel pi**ing around with video.

Just my humble opinion :Dmike
It is indeed a madness I use 3.02CE and 3.01 which can be updated and are still usable, great for old systems. The way I see it if you have a pentium Laptop something like 2.20a or puppy Linux 3 are excellent and can be updated which is why I have been working away at this.

Say for Pentium 2's Puppy 4 and Wary and for newer Precise Retro etc so we have a tared system for coping with different generations of machines.

So poke around the forums there is support for the various generations of Puppies. So If you like your older version don't throw it away.

watchdog
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#5 Post by watchdog »

The "planned obsolescence" can afflict puppy, too. Not because It gets obsolete: your old puppy still works and you can apply several hacks which mantain it working but you have to interact with friends who have the latest software and windows systems which refuse to interact with old versions. Example skype. It is the environment in which you use puppy that obliges you to keep up-to-date. I consider a joy to mantain old versions of puppy and making them still working in the latest environment. Do not abandon your old puppy.

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mikeb
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#6 Post by mikeb »

Not sure on skype..I have an old version that still seems to work. But yes the internet tends to be the main source of pressure...... new javascript tricks= new browser etc... some web designers design for universal access...some don't give a sh*t lol. flash...though whats happening with no more updates for linux its hard to tell. Flash 9 still works on you tube if you spoof it by the way :) so some 'updates' are in version number only.

I did update glibc and gtk in puppy 2 which did keep it going longer and definately better on a pentium 2 but puppy 4 seems to have become the min generally and its equivalent (lenny, slax 6) can for now be updated to keep up. The devil you know stuff really.
Bear in mind we still mainly use windows 2000 for the other side though sabotage of the compilers and installers is pressurizing for XP now. Its not a resistance to change... more a resistance to bloat, bugs and dropping of hardware.

One thing that does happen here though is that there are users who keep a stock of older files which keep us ticking over. I noticed a recent resurgence of 4.12 for example.

Well this thread is being one of those bloated new fangled discussions ... Dmikeb signing off

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Burn_IT
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#7 Post by Burn_IT »

I liked and still use 4.2 with all the bling on older machines. 4.3 was basically the same without all the flashy stuff.
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett

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Karl Godt
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#8 Post by Karl Godt »

I am also someone that says with the Puppy I started with to the bitter end .

Started on 13 years old P3 machine with 320MB RAM and 4GB HDD with Puppy 4.3 kernel 2.6.30.5 full installed
and copied the full installations to bigger and faster IDE HDDs , now SATA HDDs and LCD instead of CRT monitor with Atom or Core2Duo cpus - still runs .

Needed some fiddling though, but since many are scripts it is possible to look into and learn to adjust them ( xwin, xorgwizard for example ) .

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