[Jonnothin]

Hello, I'm a linux user and have been for just about all of high school. I just graduated and realized that my linux system needed to be updated again . . .

And so I've done some research on linux distros to see what ones give you full control of what's on your system and lets you update what you want to update instead of waiting for your distro to catch up to current applications. What came up is Arch Linux and Linux From Scratch. These 2 distros seem to be the closest thing to what I'm looking for, but I was wondering if there are any other options. I've attempted both with failures. They get a little more complicated than I'm use to. If possible I'd like to be able to run these in a virtual box first.

I'm currently running the latest Ubuntu and I was running OpenSuSE.

Thanks.

[Milto]

Quote

Linux with no updates and full control over apps

Most Linux distros, including Ubuntu, only update when you choose to update them.
As for "full control over apps", it's all based on your experience with the OS and how you can work your way around terminal.

[baavgai]

Linux from Scratch isn't quite a distro...

Arch is a nice distro and does offer considerable control. It's one of those source/bin hybrids, where you don't have to compile everything yourself, but you can if you want to. It's also notable that it doesn't really have a distro upgrade path, but just updates the packages in the package manager.

If you want closer to Linux from Scratch, Gentoo would be another option; where you are encouraged to compile your system. Indeed, a quick look at distrowatch can get you a source based list: http://distrowatch.c...ry=Source-based

Slackware, one of the ancient greats, can give you a good understanding of how your system works. Similar to Arch, it doesn't seriously hurt you but does expect you to figure stuff out yourself.

[Jonnothin]

Quote

Most Linux distros, including Ubuntu, only update when you choose to update them.
As for "full control over apps", it's all based on your experience with the OS and how you can work your way around terminal.

I'm sorry I guess I should have been more specific. I meant it to be more like a rolling release kind of like Arch Linux.

Quote

If you want closer to Linux from Scratch, Gentoo would be another option; where you are encouraged to compile your system. Indeed, a quick look at distrowatch can get you a source based list: http://distrowatch.c...ry=Source-based

For some reason I decided against Gentoo, but I might not hurt to give it shot anyway. I did actually look at distrowatch, but google seemed to give me more direct answers. I am looking to learn quite a bit about my Linux system so that I can make it more my own and make developing easier for web design and desktop apps.

[Jonnothin]

Sorry for the double post, but I think that my real problem is Virtual Box. It's having the same issue as Arch Linux was with connecting to the internet. I'm going to do some more searching and make a new topic if I need some help or find the answer.

[Milto]

I believe you manually have to install certain drivers in Arch. Strange though, most OS's are directly compatible with Virtual Box.

[Jonnothin]

I'm sorry Arch Linux had a repository issue that I found the answer to http://www.dreaminco...al-box-solved/. Sadly I cannot find the webpage that had the answer again, but I do give the answer in that post.