Never reinstalled any O/S. Upgraded, but never reinstalled. Never had the need to. I like to try things, to mess around with the system, but I never messed up MS/DOS, Windows or Linux. I did mess up OS/400 a lot, but that is a different story
How often do you reinstall system?
- Thread starter CaffeineAddict
- Start date
Thunderpants
Member
Used Linux for 21 years but still make a right horlicks of my system on occasion. I prefer rolling back partition backups to a full reinstall. It's installing all my preferred applications and removing other people's choices in the distro bundle that takes most time.
I wrote scripts to do everything needed after install is done. But even I get lazy and prefer to upgrade. Linux is a workhorse, it just keeps on going. had a windows and linux server next to each other. after a year, the windows server needed reboot about 18 times over the year. the linux server was one reboot and it was because we had to replace the power supply.
Once every 5 years or so and only when support is up.
I always do a clean install...my last was from Mint Cinnamon 19.1 to 21.1 for the reason above. As Linux doesn't break or slow down...there's no reason to do it every five minutes like windoze.
I do create an image of my system with either Foxclone or Redorescue or both every month or so...just to be on the safe side because you never know.
I always do a clean install...my last was from Mint Cinnamon 19.1 to 21.1 for the reason above. As Linux doesn't break or slow down...there's no reason to do it every five minutes like windoze.
I do create an image of my system with either Foxclone or Redorescue or both every month or so...just to be on the safe side because you never know.
I don't have a timeline, just when I need to. Last reinstall I did was December or January, can't remember. I was on Devuan 3 (actually an OS based on Devuan). About a month earlier I got a message that Chromium would no longer be updated for that version of Devuan and it (Chromium) would be out of date by the end of January. So I did a clean install of Devuan 5. I always do clean installs when going up a version, never an in place upgrade.
I used to reinstall Arch every 6 months because of the "competence" of the Qt team. But ever since I found out how to fix the most of their glitches that happen after every qt update, I don't reinstall the system anymore. The current system was installed on 28th of July 2023. Soon it will be a whole year without reinstallation. 
I run an OS until EOL , then install the next release. Never keep data in home so clean install is not a problem. I keep a note of whatever to do before (export bookmarks...) and after the install (apts ...).
I keep several computers, all OLD, each for a different purpose, so procedure is different depending.
I keep several computers, all OLD, each for a different purpose, so procedure is different depending.
Code:
$ sudo tune2fs -l /dev/nvme0n1p1 | grep 'Filesystem created:'
[sudo] password for kgiii:
Filesystem created: Wed Dec 7 20:57:05 2022Edit: I just noticed that that's Pearl Harbor Day.
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On Debian, I only reinstall when I get a new machine, or if I have to replace a HDD/SSD.
Other than that, I just upgrade to the newest release. From Debian 4 or 5 to Debian 10, I used to track Debian Testing. From 10 onwards, I tracked stable. I still haven’t updated to Debian 12 yet though…… :/
Other than that, I just upgrade to the newest release. From Debian 4 or 5 to Debian 10, I used to track Debian Testing. From 10 onwards, I tracked stable. I still haven’t updated to Debian 12 yet though…… :/
Yup that can be time consuming when properly done.
I try to use the software that comes default although I find I don't need or will ever need it.
I get the Swiss Army Knife mindset with the bundled default software although just doesn't work for me.
Oh well can't really complain about free right.
My Win7 pro (32 bit) system from 2010 - has never been re-installed. I don't actually have installation media for it. It still runs ok, probably because I've always been very particular about what services and such I allow to run on it and what a/v and firewall software I use. If it gets to the point where it needs "reinstalled", I'll probably just retire it instead of installing Linux since I only keep it around as my last link to the Windows world.
My experience with Windows 10 involved a lot of reinstalling or "resetting" the OS, primarily because I was trying to make it look and work like Windows 7 and I kept breaking it. My final solution, not unexpectedly, was to give up and install linux instead.
On the other hand, my Tiny Core Linux systems are reinstalled on every reboot - which might be after anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of years depending on which system and what I'm doing with it.
My experience with Windows 10 involved a lot of reinstalling or "resetting" the OS, primarily because I was trying to make it look and work like Windows 7 and I kept breaking it. My final solution, not unexpectedly, was to give up and install linux instead.
On the other hand, my Tiny Core Linux systems are reinstalled on every reboot - which might be after anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of years depending on which system and what I'm doing with it.
Isn't easier for you then to use a distribution that allows a minimal install, so that you can install anything you want and need afterwards?
Setting up new Pups is a doddle nowadays.
Ever since I - with plenty of help from other community members - developed the 'PuppyPortableApps' ecosystem, I've had a script that will set-up the entire desktop (wallpaper, icons, desktop widgets, etc), along with linking menu entries for all the 'portable' apps I want to use in that particular Puppy.
I keep all my 'portable' apps on a common partition of my big secondary data drive (automounted at boot). The script lists every single one, and each entry has a link to, and runs the app's internal MenuAdd script. To decide what I want to use or not, I just comment-out entries for apps that aren't needed. Running the script then adds Menu entries for everything I want to use.....
There's no need to worry about backing-up /home - in our case, /root - because it never has anything in it apart from what comes OOTB from read-only files at every boot. Every app's custom settings are contained within that app's directory, and are accessed from there.
Takes me perhaps 8-10 minutes to set-up a brand new, fully customised Puppy..!
Mike.
Ever since I - with plenty of help from other community members - developed the 'PuppyPortableApps' ecosystem, I've had a script that will set-up the entire desktop (wallpaper, icons, desktop widgets, etc), along with linking menu entries for all the 'portable' apps I want to use in that particular Puppy.
I keep all my 'portable' apps on a common partition of my big secondary data drive (automounted at boot). The script lists every single one, and each entry has a link to, and runs the app's internal MenuAdd script. To decide what I want to use or not, I just comment-out entries for apps that aren't needed. Running the script then adds Menu entries for everything I want to use.....
There's no need to worry about backing-up /home - in our case, /root - because it never has anything in it apart from what comes OOTB from read-only files at every boot. Every app's custom settings are contained within that app's directory, and are accessed from there.
Takes me perhaps 8-10 minutes to set-up a brand new, fully customised Puppy..!
Mike.
OP
CaffeineAddict
Well-Known Member
I see you guys are bothered by having to set up everything again upon fresh system install.
To deal with this I have several private repos on github which are steps written in markdown that let me quickly copy\paste them and install all the software I want, including all other configuration steps, firewall rules and other stuff.
I also keep all my personal data such as bookmarks on external disk for easy restore and backup, I really don't find it a problem to reinstall because thanks to written down steps this all together takes no more than 1 hour.
I see that Linux does not require frequent reinstall as part of "maintanence" for performance unlike Windows but when it comes to possibility of malware via web browser I don't believe Linux is immune and it's the only reason why I'll want to clean reload every year or so.
Also, I've read some guides online regarding safe browsing and general suggestion is to browse deep web not only with Tor but also within virtual machine so that host can't be compromised which sounds good enough to me to avoid having to reinstall.
Brickwizard
Well-Known Member
Ah.. but how long to house train it??
Brickwizard
Well-Known Member
I dont bother going to the dark side any more, I used to use a separate 20g HDD and anonsurf.
Basically I reinstall when I want to try a different distro on real hardware not VM. Which is quite often for me as I've always been a distro hopper at heart. But I can understand those who like solid stability and applaud their choice. I love the fact that in Linux we have the choice
Heh. How long's a piece of string....?Ah.. but how long to house train it??
Mike.
OP
CaffeineAddict
Well-Known Member
I only go there for curiosity and to bookmark interesting sites for when needed, it's mostly deep web (not dark web) in search of books, copyrighted material, data and similar which isn't about illegal stuff, but regardless a lot of regular web sites indexable by google is potentially malicious.
It's also convenient not having to reboot into temporary OS only to avoid these issues.
Also it's well known that malware trough web browser is the most common way to get compromised rather than installing bad software or running something as root.
Import configs I have stored in Gitlab as well.
I use Firefox sync for my bookmars and such and store all my personal data on my nfs-server, so I don't have any files I need to backup on my desktop system.
There are tools such as Selinux and Apparmor, that help with making it safer. As well as options to sandbox applications with tools such as Firejail and Bubblejail.
GitHub - netblue30/firejail: Linux namespaces and seccomp-bpf sandbox
Linux namespaces and seccomp-bpf sandbox. Contribute to netblue30/firejail development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
GitHub - igo95862/bubblejail: Bubblewrap based sandboxing for desktop applications
Bubblewrap based sandboxing for desktop applications - igo95862/bubblejail
github.com
You can use a separate browser for specific tasks as well and Sandbox that browser if you don't sandbox your main browser, you can use something like a multi-container extension.
Firefox Multi-Account Containers â Deze extensie downloaden voor ð¦ Firefox (nl)
Download Firefox Multi-Account Containers voor Firefox. Met Firefox Multi-Account Containers kunt u alle onderdelen van uw onlineleven in verschillende kleurgecodeerde tabbladen houden en Mozilla VPN kunt integreren voor een extra privacylaag.
It takes me about 30 minutes or so to reinstall Arch Linux, but it takes me half a day afterwards to get everything setup, install and configured as I had before even with my configs in Gitlab. And downloading all my games even longer, now you said then reuse your homedir but what's the point of reinstalling and not redoing your homedir if you are worried about something having compromised your system since there could be something in your homedir as well. Just use security tools that are available and make it workable for you.
Also even though it is less likely to get a virus on Linux there can still be a chance, as long as you stick to the default and trust repos or other trusted packages and don't visit any questionable websites you should be fine. However if it works for you to reinstall your system once every 6 months and it makes you feel better then there is nothing wrong with that. Just know it's not necessary. Also if you really want to you can even find a Linux AV scanner that is actually good compared to clamav and does real-time scanning.
