Make knoppix upgradeable.

[bmike1]

I think that something they might want to think about is making knx-hdinstall able to update/grade previous instalations and able to reinstall itself rather than having it always format a HD.
How do I get ahold of someone to suggest that?

[garyng]

not a good idea, IMO. I see hdinstall as a one time installation tool. After that, just apt-get. It is closed to impossible to do this kind of 'upgrade' given what I know about linux(even window may not be able to do it). Beside, why reiventing the wheel when dpkg/apt-get is designed specifically for package upgrade ? There is still lots of gotcha there which is already considered the best in linux.

[Stephen]

I think that something they might want to think about is making knx-hdinstall able to update/grade previous instalations and able to reinstall itself rather than having it always format a HD.
How do I get ahold of someone to suggest that?

Use the bugzilla (http://www.knoppix.net/bugs/) and submit a wishlist bug on the installer. note: there is a new installer called strangely enough knoppix-installer.
You can achive your desired effect by either having a seperate /home partition and backing up the /etc directory (or just the files you changed in it) to the /home partition and then installing the new version and restoring every thing the way it was or saving both the /etc and /home directories somewhere your drive and then restore them.

[didac]

I like the apt-get option but the debian testing distribution is just catching up too slow.
If Klaus is able to put together a workable up to date software selection wouldn't it be possible to have a mirror with the deb files so we can just apt-get upgrade to the latest knoppix selection?

I do understand why Debian moves more slowly with all the surplus demands of compatibility and all that but the main attraction of knoppix is its installer AND the fact of having great software to play/work with on an x86 box.

The reinstall option with seperate home partition is workable when you don't need software that's not on the cd. In the latter case you have the choice between following the slow Debian release cycle or reinstalling a knoppix and reinstalling the additional software each time (if dependencies allow, and that you only find out after the install so you can end up reinstalling an older knoppix again sometimes)

[aay]

I like the apt-get option but the debian testing distribution is just catching up too slow.

Just use unstable. It's just as up to date or more so than any other linux distro.

apt-get install program_x/unstable

or

apt-get -t unstable install program_x

The second option will usually work when you need to resolve dependency problems. I use this all the time and it works great.