best complete rolling release distribution

Ale

Which is best rolling release distribution with

- all multimedia codecs

- powerful software like Openoffice Base, Skype, Picasa

- for 64 bit notebook

- for newbies

What that means is you install once, keep upgrading, never reinstall, maintain the newest versions of every Linux kernel and package available keeping your existing confs the same without the need for a 6 month release cycle.

Goineasy9

Very few distros come with codecs or skype already installed. Mint is one, but I don't think it's a rolling release (and I'm not sure about it including skype, which is proprietary). Arch and sidux are two rolling release distros, but are not newbie friendly and definitely don't come with non-free software . I think you're out of luck.
If you want to run Linux with proprietary software, you'll just have to learn how to install the extras yourself.
If you want to pay for a commercial distro that comes with the micro$oft tax included (and the ability to play DRM files), I think that iMagicOS fills that void. Google can bring up more info on iMagic if your interested.

ludovic.ferre

I think Ubuntu LTS should meet your needs without any problems.

Which is best rolling release distribution with
- all multimedia codecs

Proprietary software is available in the restricted repository, and the system is open for you to plug into other software sources on the web.

- powerful software like Openoffice Base, Skype, Picasa

As Goineasy9 stated, you won't find many distro with Skype of Open Office base installed by default. However install the software from the GUI or command line is very easy.

- for 64 bit notebook

Most Linux distro have an AMD_64 build (for 64-bit computers based on the AMD extension of the x86 architecture). In short any Intel/AMD 64-bit chips that power desktop and laptops will be supported.

Note Skype doesn't work on 64-bit Linux because the software wasn't build for that platform (may be we should ask Skype why?).

- for newbies

I can only repeat myself here. Go Ubuntu!

What that means is you install once, keep upgrading, never reinstall, maintain the newest versions of every Linux kernel and package available keeping your existing confs the same without the need for a 6 month release cycle.

I don't really understand... you want to be able to have a stable distribution but be up-to-date with the latest kernel and packages? Or you want to have a simple, easy to maintain distribution that will include newer packages using a 6 month cycle like Ubuntu?

I suspect the goals of having an easy to maintain system with rolling release is going to be very challenging.

woboyle

My personal preference for laptops these days (either 32-bit or 64-bit) is Ubuntu, though others are very good as well. You will need to install the proprietary codecs, drivers, etc that you might need, but my experience is that it supports most hardware very well out-of-the-box. In my case, it handled my WiFi, bluetooth, and Sprint USB modem without any configuration necessary. I did have to install non-FOSS audio and video codecs, but that was a snap with the standard package manager.

As for rolling upgrades, I'm not sure, but I believe that it allows upgrades from version to version. My CentOS desktop certainly does that, though any of them require you to reboot to use a new kernel. However, unlike Windows, you don't need to reboot until you are ready to and you can boot into the previous version until you reinstall proprietary drivers that don't migrate with the kernel update. The nVidia proprietary video driver and VirtualBox kernel module are examples of that situation.

dsparil

Ale wrote:

Which is best rolling release distribution with
- all multimedia codecs
- powerful software like Openoffice Base, Skype, Picasa
- for 64 bit notebook
- for newbies

What that means is you install once, keep upgrading, never reinstall, maintain the newest versions of every Linux kernel and package available keeping your existing confs the same without the need for a 6 month release cycle.

Sabayon is the answer to this one.

It is a rolling release distribution like Arch and Gentoo. (Infact, Sabayon is based on Gentoo)
It's an Installable Live DVD
It comes with all the codecs, java, and flash installed
The 64bit version works great
Skype and Picasa can be gotten from the package manager
It's perhaps the most newbie friendly rolling release distro that exists.

The only problem you might run into as a newbie is that the graphical package manager Spritz has been changed to Sulfur. The other thing you need to know is that you MUST always install the latest version of entropy before upgrading any other package. If you don't do this, you leave yourself open to potential breakage.

To fix this issue, open a terminal:
equo update
equo remove spritz
equo install entropy
equo install sulfur

After that, you can use Sulfur to to upgrade your system or you can just type "equo world" to upgrade your system. If you feel this is too complicated, just wait until Sabayon 4.2 to come out.

Here's my current setup:
http://i40.tinypic.com/r0xeet.png
http://i41.tinypic.com/euftds.png


As you can see, the graphics has already changed to 4.2 before the iso has been released.

If you prefer Gnome, here's how it would look like:
http://news.softpedia.com/images/extra/LINUX/large/sabayongnome41-large_004.jpg

The artwork will also change to 4.2 as soon as you type "equo world".

sflory

Ale wrote:

Which is best rolling release distribution with
- all multimedia codecs
- powerful software like Openoffice Base, Skype, Picasa
- for 64 bit notebook
- for newbies

You wouldn't get all of these
- all multimedia codecs
Most rolling release distros don't do closed codecs on religious/legal/ethical grounds.

- powerful software like Openoffice Base, Skype, Picasa
Most rolling release distros don't do closed source software on religious/legal/ethical grounds. (OO being open source)

- for 64 bit notebook
A rolling release will likely not support notebooks as well as more stable distro. Things like wireless will be a constant struggle. (unless you have the intel chipset)

-for newbies
No rolling release is suitable for newbies

Having used rolling release distros. Just realize that you need to be constantly tweaking you config files. With an every 6 month distro you will need to tweak config files every release sure. A distro with constant churn means constant tweaking files. Plus stability is a major issue. New can mean better, but also can mean buggy. You'll get software which is poorly tested, and gets fixed quickily.

PS- Honestly these sort of distros are great if what you want to do is test, and tweak things. Honestly you might find something like open suse, packman, and the various community repo. (Open suse for example lets you run the latest wine, kde, openoffice, or so on but you can pick and choose.) Open suse is just an example. Figure what you areas you want to be on the bleeding edge on, and find a distro that has an experiment repo for those.

Ale

I have read equo world can't be used to upgrade Sabayon 4 to 5 when version 5 will available at august 2009.
It is a waste of time to download the new iso file every 6 months (Ubuntu/Mint) or every year (Sabayon)

Ale

equo world can't be used to upgrade Sabayon 4 to 5 at august 2009, when version 5 is available.

dsparil

Ale wrote:

I have read equo world can't be used to upgrade Sabayon 4 to 5 when version 5 will available at august 2009.
It is a waste of time to download the new iso file every 6 months (Ubuntu/Mint) or every year (Sabayon)

Here's from their blog:
http://planet.sabayonlinux.org/?p=535

Branch 5 will be starting in June and will contain the KDE 4.3 series. As far as I know, the branch 4 will be able to roll on to branch 5, you will just have to edit the repo config file when the time comes. More information will come out on that when it’s ready. So branch 4 will get to KDE 4.2.4 and than things will focus on branch 5.

I was told on IRC not to long ago that it would be one simple command to do this.