> And can I convert an Ubuntu into a Debian by reinstalling it while keeping my home directory?
You can do that with any distribution, unless you expect your configs to line up exactly.
If you don't keep your /home on a separate partition, back it up. Install Debian, making sure to separate /home and root into different partitions this time. Go through your ~/.configs, find the ones you've changed (most of this will probably be browser shit) and put copies aside. Then take all of the configs out of your home directory backup (including the originals of your changed configs) and put those aside in a different place, deleting them from the backup of your home directory. Backup the virgin ~/.configs from your new install (do not delete them from the new home directory.) Then copy your old home directory files (sans configs) over your new ones using rsync. Compare your manually changed files to the virgin files from the install - has the format changed, will they still work? Are they located in the same directory in Debian as in your previous distro? If it looks fine, copy them in. See if they work. If they don't, look up why not. They probably will.
If you keep your home on a different partition, then install as if you don't, and let Debian create a home in the same partition as the new OS. Do the same config dance as above (annihilating your old configs other than the customized ones), and switch your /home to be mounted from your old home partition.
Or at least this is what I do. On your desktop, you probably want to install testing, on your servers stable.
I just pin to a specific code name (version) instead of a state (such as testing), e.g. right now I'm using bookworm which happens to be testing, and I'll still be using it for a while once it's been declared stable. If I feel like I'd want to upgrade some packages that are available in the next testing, or I can't install some specific package from unstable because it requires an update for a big library (often libc6), I update to the next testing.
I think it's better to avoid pinning to testing since it gets a lot of updates right after a stable promotion (after the package unfreeze), which you probably don't want.
For a long while I ran testing and had zero issues.
Warning: if you're used to PPA life in Ubuntu Debian doesn't offer an equivalent that I'm aware of. EDIT sibling comments indicate home brew might solve this.
The problem with Debian is you can't usually pick "a thing" from another channel, you mostly have to fully commit. Testing is great until it isn't and anecdotally sid/unstable never fixed that for me - I just had to learn to build the occasional package from source
Ultimately I'm a lot happier having gone on that journey but it can feel very arduous the first few times apt doesn't have a recent enough version of something available
Right now I run testing as my gaming Linux, and I like that the packages are not old. But there's also a KDE bug that occurs daily, and it's a bit annoying.
Personally - I think the step away from systemd is a fairly huge mistake.
I understand that legacy users and orgs may have vested interests in sticking with older init systems, but personally I think systemd solves a challenging problem space in a very easy to use manner.
I much prefer writing a systemd unit file than having to wade into sysvinit or runit.
Politics aside - I just find systemd far easier to work with.
In what case do you need to opt for a different init system than systemd? Genuinely curious, as I've been using debian with systemd for almost a decade now and haven't run into any issues regarding it.
It's still pretty easy to replace systemd in Debian with sysvinit (we do it at moderate scale). Devuan works very well though, basically there's little difference between Devuan and Debian without systemd (all the packages are identical, except where a package has decided to require systemd in which case the Devuan version will just have the dependency removed).
Long term though there's a query over support for anything other than systemd in Debian, hence the move towards Devuan.
Where Debian is a reputable distribution with a clear goal, the Devuan crew is solving a non-issue by means of almost religious levels of resistance toward systemd.
If you want technological merit, chose Debian. If you want to join the conservatives of Linux, you should go for Devuan.
morsch|3 years ago
pessimizer|3 years ago
You can do that with any distribution, unless you expect your configs to line up exactly.
If you don't keep your /home on a separate partition, back it up. Install Debian, making sure to separate /home and root into different partitions this time. Go through your ~/.configs, find the ones you've changed (most of this will probably be browser shit) and put copies aside. Then take all of the configs out of your home directory backup (including the originals of your changed configs) and put those aside in a different place, deleting them from the backup of your home directory. Backup the virgin ~/.configs from your new install (do not delete them from the new home directory.) Then copy your old home directory files (sans configs) over your new ones using rsync. Compare your manually changed files to the virgin files from the install - has the format changed, will they still work? Are they located in the same directory in Debian as in your previous distro? If it looks fine, copy them in. See if they work. If they don't, look up why not. They probably will.
If you keep your home on a different partition, then install as if you don't, and let Debian create a home in the same partition as the new OS. Do the same config dance as above (annihilating your old configs other than the customized ones), and switch your /home to be mounted from your old home partition.
Or at least this is what I do. On your desktop, you probably want to install testing, on your servers stable.
hiq|3 years ago
I think it's better to avoid pinning to testing since it gets a lot of updates right after a stable promotion (after the package unfreeze), which you probably don't want.
jcranmer|3 years ago
For home use, Debian testing is usually a good balance between things not breaking and things not being ancient.
For servers, Debian stable is probably a better choice.
justanotherbody|3 years ago
Warning: if you're used to PPA life in Ubuntu Debian doesn't offer an equivalent that I'm aware of. EDIT sibling comments indicate home brew might solve this.
The problem with Debian is you can't usually pick "a thing" from another channel, you mostly have to fully commit. Testing is great until it isn't and anecdotally sid/unstable never fixed that for me - I just had to learn to build the occasional package from source
Ultimately I'm a lot happier having gone on that journey but it can feel very arduous the first few times apt doesn't have a recent enough version of something available
unknown|3 years ago
[deleted]
npteljes|3 years ago
cf100clunk|3 years ago
Look even further at Devuan, made by people who conder Debian as a bit dirty. (I use both as needed, I'm just riffing on your comment)
horsawlarway|3 years ago
I understand that legacy users and orgs may have vested interests in sticking with older init systems, but personally I think systemd solves a challenging problem space in a very easy to use manner.
I much prefer writing a systemd unit file than having to wade into sysvinit or runit.
Politics aside - I just find systemd far easier to work with.
super256|3 years ago
In what case do you need to opt for a different init system than systemd? Genuinely curious, as I've been using debian with systemd for almost a decade now and haven't run into any issues regarding it.
zh3|3 years ago
Long term though there's a query over support for anything other than systemd in Debian, hence the move towards Devuan.
greyw|3 years ago
shzhdbi09gv8ioi|3 years ago
If you want technological merit, chose Debian. If you want to join the conservatives of Linux, you should go for Devuan.