Updating Knoppix 5.1.1

[DiscipleDOC]

Good evening.

Here's my situation. I got Knoppix 5.1.1 installed on a 4 gb usb drive. I would like to:

• Have a good source list (the one that default is old)
  Update all the software on the drive

Are these possible? I'm a complete n00b so please point me in the right direction.

TIA.

[JohnnyH]

Since Knoppix 5.1.1 was released, Debian etch was released as the new 'stable' version, so the meanings of 'stable' 'unstable' 'testing' and so on in the /etc/apt/sources.list file have changed.
e.g. sarge, which was 'stable', is now 'oldstable'
Currently etch is 'stable' , lenny is 'testing' and sid is 'unstable'
(see the Debian website for full explanation; I recommend that you read there anyway).

1] You *might* have success just doing

apt-get update
apt-get -s upgrade

(where -s means a simulation)
which will tell you what the upgrade would do to your system. If no problems are notified then you can do

apt-get upgrade

2] However to be cautious, you could simply align your system up to the latest etch (=Debian stable) issues (except for Knoppix-specific packages of course) - I have done this and it safely gives me a stable system.
To do this:
Save away your original /etc/apt/sources.list and /etc/apt/preferences files by renaming them.
Create a new /etc/apt/sources.list file containing at least :

deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/ etch main non-free contrib
deb http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main contrib non-free

(You can replace de by your country code to get a closer mirror - check the full address )

Then do

apt-get update
apt-get -s upgrade

followed by

apt-get upgrade

if OK.

3] apt-get upgrade won't upgrade the whole system at once, but it is safer, and less processing-intensive, to do that first before doing the more aggressive

apt-get [-s] dist-upgrade

4] If you're feeling a bit more adventurous you could try further upgrading to lenny or sid instead of etch.
(I've never done this from a Knoppix 5.1.1 baseline - no guarantees )

5] As you are doing a 4GB USB drive installation, why not try pure Debian etch or lenny or sid instead ? For my (admittedly mature) hardware Debian configures an excellent system without the fiddly irritations of a Knoppix hard drive installation - Knoppix is optimised as a live CD.
(I have a Debian etch workstation including full OpenOffice.org on an 8GB USB stick populated to about 3.5 GB).