Prevent Installing Buggy Stuff Possible?

[limotux]

Hi guys,
I am back home again after a distrohopped for a while.
I have played for a while with Debian Testing (as a rolling release) because I love the concept.

While there I discovered an app called apt-listbugs
Once it is installed it can be configured that upon updating/upgrading anything it excludes and does not install buggy software.

There are several “rankings” to bugs from how serious or severe the bug is down to simple or even a wish.

The user can configure it to install only the software he is comfortable with the seriousness of the bug.

Is there something like this in EndeavourOS or Arch?
I wish to see it in my beloved EndeavourOS, it will make it even better and more stable.

I just thought I should contribute something.
I understand the load on the developers, but hopefully this can be considered. The package is already there as it is open source, it will just need a little customization to read the bugs.

Just a little suggestion from me!

[ricklinux]

Distro hopping again? You better distro hop back on the EOS mission.

Edit: @limotux
Topic title was edited by mod for spelling mistake. Hope that’s okay.

[limotux]

@ricklinux

Distro hopping again? You better distro hop back on the EOS mission.

Hi @ricklinux
Well, to be honest, I’ve been distro hopping like crazy since early 2021!
In all my distro hopping, no distro lasted for more than 2 months (some only survived a few minutes)

The only distro I lived on and was there “all” the time was my beloved EndeavourOS. As far as I remember it remained there for 2 full years at least since end 2021 till now (with a bit of distro hopping since then, but I always come back home.)

@ricklinux

Topic title was edited by mod for spelling mistake. Hope that’s okay.

I appreciate your patience and apology for typo!

[Cphusion]

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[Nomad]

I use apt-listbugs and apt-listchanges myself on my Debian Sid system and yes it’s very useful to prevent disaster, especially on Sid.

Someone else can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe such a package exists on Arch, and I’m fairly positive that even if it did, it’s not needed.

The most you’ll hear from members in this community is to keep both the linux-mainline and linux-lts kernels installed so that in case one causes a system failure after an update, you have the other to boot into.

[dalto]

That won’t work on Arch for two reasons:

• I don’t think a consolidated list of bugs by severity even exists for Arch now that bug tracking has moved to gitlab.
• Even if it did, not upgrading a package with bugs could break your system because of the rolling nature of Arch

[Cphusion]

@dalto

Even if it did, not upgrading a package with bugs could break your system because of the rolling nature of Arch

And because Partial upgrades are unsupported.

[limotux]

@A Complete Idiot's Guide To Endeavour OS Maintenance / Update / Upgrade

I’m a complete idiot - so here’s my guide for you!

Thanks @Cphusion
Thank you for reminding me with this wonderful link.

I believe it is about updating and maintaining the system which is great.
I as well for more than two years permanently (99.9% of the time) on EndeavourOS I never had a serious issue.

The app I mentioned is a bit different it is not about updating, it is about excluding updates.

@Nomad

and I’m fairly positive that even if it did, it’s not needed.

Wow @Nomad
I will appreciate if you explain for me how/why it is not needed?

[limotux]

@dalto

Even if it did, not upgrading a package with bugs could break your system because of the rolling nature of Arch

Hi @dalto
That explains the whole thing for me.
Sorry I posted my question before reading your reply.

Thank you as usual, learning never stops.

[Nomad]

@limotux

Wow @Nomad
I will appreciate if you explain for me how/why it is not needed?

apt-listbugs and apt-listchanges are meant for Debian Sid, not the testing branch. Although it can be used on testing as well, but not necessary because the packages that make it to testing have already been largely stabilized and most bugs addressed.

I suspect you’re looking at Debian Sid/Testing and Arch (rolling release) like they are in the same category when they are not.

Debian Sid is the unstable branch of Debian, which means it receives the latest packages that are not yet fully tested. Therefore, tools like apt-listbugs and apt-listchanges are very helpful for users who need to stay informed about potential issues and changes in such a volatile environment.

Arch is not a development branch nor a testing branch. Arch Linux follows a true rolling release model, where updates are continuously pushed out as soon as they are ready. There’s no distinction between testing and stable phases; everything is released to users as soon as it’s considered stable.

In my experience, if your Arch system breaks, it’s more than likely that a kernel update broke it, which is why it’s recommended to have both the mainline and lts kernels installed.

[limotux]

@Nomad

everything is released to users as soon as it’s considered stable.

So it is stable, not like Debian sid.
Thanks @Nomad
This clarifies the whole thing.
Thank you

[limotux]

@Nomad

In my experience, if your Arch system breaks, it’s more than likely that a kernel update broke it, which is why it’s recommended to have both the mainline and lts kernels installed.

In my experience with EndeavourOS for more than 2 years as I mentioned nothing ever broke.

This is the most perfect distro, the longest I stayed with any distro while distro hopping was 2 months. But EndeavourOS is something else

[Nomad]

A true stable would be the Debian Stable branch, but Arch is as stable as can be for a rolling model.

One other measure you can add in addition to installing both kernels on Arch is to use the btrfs file system with snapshots.

[limotux]

@Nomad

Arch is as stable as can be for a rolling model.

I agree with you fully.
It is stable enough. It never broke. Only once with Grub. But generally it is perfect and stable.

I loved BTRFS and snapshots.
The only issue was the Baloo doesn’t play well with it. For me content indexing and search is vital for me.
I read and research a lot.

[Nomad]

@limotux

This is the most perfect distro, the longest I stayed with any distro while distro hopping was 2 months. But EndeavourOS is something else

EndeavourOS is certainly the best Arch derivative and that’s mostly because of the entire community from the developers to the amazing people in this forum. Members of this community will help you rather than belittle you and gate keep when you ask questions about anything you don’t understand.

[dalto]

@limotux

The only issue was the Baloo doesn’t play well with it.

I believe this was fixed in plasma 6.

[limotux]

@Nomad

mostly because of the entire community from the developers to the amazing people in this forum

Again I agree with you fully.
In all my distro hopping on the other forums no community is like this community.

I don’t want to mention another distro where they just tell you RTFM in reply to any question.

[limotux]

@dalto

I believe this was fixed in plasma 6.

That would be amazing.
I hope to hear from users using Baloo, snapshotting and BTRFS.

I would for sure enjoy it and enjoy your BTRFS Assistant.

Hope to hear from users.
With all my due respect to you I am saying I need to hear from users because you said “I believe”. I am sure you understand.

[ricklinux]

@limotux

I loved BTRFS and snapshots.

This is what i run and i find it a very stable file system and the snapshot features the way it is setup on EOS is very easy to use and learn to maintain.

Edit: I use btrfs with btrfs-assistant, snapper-support and btrfsmaintenance with grub obviously!

[limotux]

@ricklinux

This is what i run and i find it a very stable file system and the snapshot features the way it is setup on EOS is very easy to use and learn to maintain.

Sure, @ricklinux , it is stable, I used it for relatively enough time. Maybe you remember I have some threads here about BTRFS and file content indexing and search where I ended up using Recoll instead of Baloo.

I hope to hear from users about BTRFS+Baloo. Is Baloo behaving now with snapshots? (See @dalto post above he said he “believes” it is sorted out and my reply)

Are you sing Baloo with BTRFS? No multiple results pointing to the same file?