Rolling Release "Mania"...

[MartyMint]

Is it me, or is there an over abundance of rolling release distro recommendations lately.

"Oh, you're new to Linux?...You should totally choose a rolling release!"

"That's it! I've had enough! I'm switching to a rolling release...it will solve all my problems!"

[MartyMint]

I'm only partially kidding...

[CupidsHelper]

Well here is another one, interesting...https://news.opensuse.org/2014/07/29/fa ... g-release/

[nomko]

Rolling releases does have an advantage above periodically released versions, you only install it once and it will be updated till the end of times. For new users this has the advantage that they only install Linux once and still get every update required and needed. So in fact they always have an updated version. With Mint 17 the Mint team chooses for a LTS versions which has a 5-year support. This means that from the release date on till the end of life date, the Mint team can focus on updates instead of getting nervous about releasing a new version each 9 months. They now have more time fo development for the next Mint version.

[eanfrid]

IMO this mania mostly targets Windows users who think - and want to keep up with - their (bad) habit of getting the newest and the flashiest must not be discouraged. Unfortunately, newer does not mean better and this makes these users miss the truly important points: efficiency and stability. While some distros are "rolling releases" on purpose from the beginning, this mania is pulling new users toward the wrong direction. This pertains to the same state of mind as installing antivirus and asking for defrag tools under a Linux OS: irrelevant. This does not ease at all the mandatory mind switch between Windows and Linux.

BTW: last time I installed Debian on this machine (see my signature) was 2006. Since then, I only upgraded to next stable releases of Debian when they were ready. Meanwhile, I replaced twice the motherboard, CPU, RAM modules, GPU and replaced 5 times or more my HDDs... No need for such a "rolling" release.

[fraxinus_63]

I have enjoyed using a rolling release distro (PCLinuxOS) in the past and I can see the advantages of theoretically never having to reinstall. However, in a production environment (where breakage of my workflow can result in delays that can affect my clients, or keep me up at night when I'd rather spend time with my family) I now play safe and stick to fixed-point releases.

The huge advantage of a fixed release, where the installed base never changes, is that a package (once happily installed and configured, from whatever source) will always work! This removes any risk of a core update to a distro leaving you with a key package that suddenly doesn't work properly anymore. This can be frustrating and scary in the face of deadlines, even if (after several hours work) you succeed in get it running again.

For me, the Ubuntu/Mint LTS release cycle offers a perfect balance. I only need to reinstall every two years or so, the procedure for doing this (once you have done it once) is not hard at all, and (best of all) the LTS release support periods overlap - this means I can play with the new LTS for a while and make sure everything works for me before switching my production computers over.

[colyn]

If people want to take a look at rolling releases they should give SolydXK a try..

I've used others including PCLinuxOS and much prefer SolydK..

Before jumping the Mint ship SolydXK only comes in 2 flavors... KDE and XFCE. They took these 2 when Mint dropped them from LMDE..

[scryan]

Been loving arch.

I actually don't really care about the newest software. I was fine on 13.... But strangely enough I have had less problems and generally more stability with arch then any other distro I have tried, and somehow crazy new software versions so go figure.

I also don't mind re-installing.


lol, I dunno ... either way, but I see no reason to be "annoyed" with rolling releases, and I don't think there is an "over abundance". I don't know that either style is "correct" or should exist in greater numbers then the other. Rolling releases doesn't really describe how conservative they are with how fast they roll so I don't think its inherently unstable,newer, older, or anything else.

Just another way of doing things