General TC > General TC Talk
some notes on the philosophy behind TC
thane:
My understanding is that the philosophy behind TC is basically two-fold: a very small basic system that permits the user to install only those applications (extensions) that he/she wishes; and a careful separation of static data (e.g. the extensions) from dynamic data (e.g. user preference files, browsing history, which are saved in mydata) which are saved separately from the extension files. Because the extension directory/files are not updated during normal use these are presumably not degraded over time.
jamtat:
--- Quote from: thane on June 16, 2010, 02:27:50 PM ---My understanding is that the philosophy behind TC is basically two-fold: a very small basic system that permits the user to install only those applications (extensions) that he/she wishes;
--- End quote ---
But the smallness factor is related to the notion of system rot, isn't it? At least as it's explained at http://tinycorelinux.com/concepts.html , smallness and pristineness (non-rottedness) seem to be carefully linked.
--- Quote ---and a careful separation of static data (e.g. the extensions) from dynamic data (e.g. user preference files, browsing history, which are saved in mydata) which are saved separately from the extension files. Because the extension directory/files are not updated during normal use these are presumably not degraded over time.
--- End quote ---
Ok. So there are mechanisms for reducing system rot even outside the core, right?
James
curaga:
--- Quote from: jamtat on June 16, 2010, 02:07:27 PM ---
--- Quote from: gerald_clark on June 16, 2010, 01:29:54 PM ---System rot I have seen is often caused by installing software from multiple sources.
--- End quote ---
Do you mean, for example, installing Red Hat packages onto a Debian system? E.g., using alien? Or are you referring to compiling from source?
--- End quote ---
It means anything outside official channels for the distro; from source, to other formats (deb -> rpm), to same format but for different distro (rpm for suse on fedora), to same format binary packages (skype).
danielibarnes:
The wiki uses the phrase "inevitable system rot." As I understand it, James is saying that at least in his experience, system rot is not an issue.
Of course, this effect will differ with each individual's experience. For every person that has never seen system rot, there is someone whose system rots before their very eyes. The person's use of the system (installing, uninstalling) might not be a factor at all. It could be faulty hardware.
What Tiny Core provides that other installable operating systems do not, is the ability to make system rot impossible.
When you boot using only the kernel, root filesystem, and your extensions, you are as close as you can get to having the exact same setup everytime. Personally, that is why I find Tiny Core uniquely valuable. Consistency.
jamtat:
--- Quote from: danielibarnes on June 16, 2010, 03:40:40 PM ---The wiki uses the phrase "inevitable system rot." As I understand it, James is saying that at least in his experience, system rot is not an issue.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, what I'm saying is that I've only seen it on Windows systems. Never seen it on a Linux system--certainly not one I've installed and/or used over time.
--- Quote ---Of course, this effect will differ with each individual's experience. For every person that has never seen system rot, there is someone whose system rots before their very eyes. The person's use of the system (installing, uninstalling) might not be a factor at all. It could be faulty hardware.
--- End quote ---
I've seen hardware issues. I had a Debian system that would spontaneously lock on me a few years ago, for example. But as soon as I stopped relying on the system's RAM for video and stuck in a real video card with its own memory built in, the problem ceased. Bad RAM, can, famously, cause file system corruption and thus system rot. Or bad sectors on a hard disk. Could be I've not seen non-hardware-related system rot because I tend to stick pretty carefully to packages provided by my OS's repositories which, in the case of Debain and variants, means almost any piece of software you could want will be available. I tend to shy away from compiling from source, which could be another reason I've not seen system rot and/or performance degradation.
James
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