(SOLVED)Which to choose: Debian or Manjaro Netrunner?

Hello,

I will appreciate your kind recommendation in order to choose the right Netrunner for me, Debian or Manjaro.

I come from some years using another rolling distro based on LXDE and I was very happy. But unfortunately I had problems both with my Desktop and now my Laptop Core i7 hardware. I discovered that the problem was not my laptop when I ran the Live DVD of Emigma and it worked like a charm, I was also very pleased and impresed with the aesthetics and functionality.

The comunity of the other distro is very friendly and incredible supportive, but I spent countless hours trying to fixed it with no luck.

What do I need, in this order of importance:

1.- An OS that is fast since I work with at least 2 VirtualBox guest VMs and the host itself, all running at the same time.
2.- Rolling is good, because I will not have the hassle to reinstall OS and copy big VMs. But if rolling suddenly breaks and fails to recognize some part of the hardware will be no good. I need rock solid stability.
3.- Aesthetics is very nice to have, sorry but the “Ghosts 80s Retro Computer Game” symbol in the rolling distro for the package manager is, well, ehem…
4.- Preinstalled packages are also important, the rolling lacks of VirtualBox, time is priceless in this fast world, I do not want to spend much time installing.
5.- Easy to use, mainly with GUI, because I am an M$ deserter, no time to learn countless of commands and procedures.

Thanks for your kind help and recommendations
Best regards
joejac

According to your wish list either one would suit you just fine, both have the same look and feel and basically the same packages installed, however there are allot of differences.

The rolling edition is based on Manjaro, which i find to be just as stable as the Ubuntu. For now it uses the same GUI package manager front end that Manjaro KDE uses, but this can be easily changed out for, Apper (no AUR Support), appset or even Manjaro’s own Gtk2 based GUI called pamac. Muon is also being ported over but it’s nowhere near usable yet.

I’m sorry I couldn’t help much.

  1. if needed, you can change the pacman logo to any other icon
    I was thinking the same “meh”, but it has grown on me ever since :slight_smile:

Thanks for your kind responses.

So the key issue is the rolling feature. I have one question. With Netrunner Manjaro Rolling, will it keep not just the OS upgraded but all the packages upgraded also, including VirtualBox and the virtual machines’ Guest Additions, without reinstallation?

Regards
joejac

Yes, yes it will, however it won’t convert your existing VM’s if the file spec has changed, but hey when was the last time that happened. Now It will only update the kernel within the series installed (3.10.9 - 3.10.10, etc.), there is a separate tool made by Manjaro to upgrade and manage the kernel and modules installed.

My current host kernel is 3.12.18.distro_suffix I wonder if it is complicated to upgrade the kernel on the Virtual Machines because I do not want to damage one, of course I have a backup of today.

On the other hand I ran Enigma 13.06 (Debian) from DVD and I found on System>Muon Update Manager with System update and the update of other software. I wonder if this is not somewhat similar to a rolling if I can upgrade and to have the latest System and applications, or this only works for the current Netrunner Debian and has nothing to do with future versions of the Netrunner Debian?

Thanks for clarifying me those questions
Regards
joejac

Netrunner Debain is based on Kubuntu, which has a 6 month release cycle on all software other than a few select packages.

Netrunner arch is based on Manjaro, in which all software in updated every 2 to 3 weeks.

on the kubuntu base the kernel stays the same as the installed version for 6 months, or until the developers decide to update for security fixes, driver support, etc.

on the Manjaro base there is always more than one kernel available, the ISO shiped with 3.10.x installed, however also available in the repository is the 3.4, 3,8, 3.11 3.12 1.13 and 3.14 versions. The system will automatically update within the series installed.

as I didn’t fully understand your post I hope I answered your question.

Thanks for your fast response.

Let me explain myself please, If at the end of month 6 for Netrunner Kubuntu I run System>Muon Update Manager, this action will upgrade everything to the new Netrunner Kubuntu release cycle for the following 6 months period? So I will have always the new Netrunner Kubuntu every 6 month without reinstalling? Or am I wrong?

Hope I was able to explain myself.
Thanks for your kind answer
Regards
joejac

Wrong, the updater only updates or upgrades software that has had security or bug fixes applied during that 6 month release.

In order to upgrade from one Netrunner release to another. you will need to either:
A) Run a upgrade script to move from 13.12 to 14.06
or
B) format and Re-install your system.

back up and restore of your personal data is recommended, especially if you do not have a separate home partition.

Now, in the Rolling Edition you install once and just update every 2 -3 weeks and you will always be up to date.

Thanks AJSlye

Analyzing your answers here and in this post I think the way to go is with the rolling Netrunner.

I hope not to use often AUR, after more than 15 minutes of Y/n/Y I was able to instal gscan2pdf and it worked!

Best regards
joejac