Distro-hoppers anonymous

PackRat · 2026-02-24 13:29:24

Colonel Panic wrote:

However, Pacman was locked for some reason and as a result I was unable to install any fresh software;
error: failed to init transaction (unable to lock database)

Usually means there is another instance of pacman running, or the previous process didn't terminate properly. You need to delete the db.lck file.

sudo rm -r /var/lib/pacman/db.lck

is the typical fix.

Sector11 · 2026-02-24 16:00:29

And Mrs. Pacman will get really upset.
(sorry - could not help myself)

We now return you to your regular programming.

Colonel Panic · 2026-02-24 19:01:10

PackRat wrote:

Colonel Panic wrote:
However, Pacman was locked for some reason and as a result I was unable to install any fresh software;
error: failed to init transaction (unable to lock database)
Usually means there is another instance of pacman running, or the previous process didn't terminate properly. You need to delete the db.lck file.
sudo rm -r /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
is the typical fix.

Thanks for replying. I found a temporary fix - I rebooted (didn't think logging out would be drastic enough) and then logged back in again, and I was able to install a couple more programs before it happened again ...

I am slowly getting on top of it though, and advice like that goes a long way to help so thanks again.

WizardofCOR · Yesterday 02:51:34

UCS/Nubus (deb-based AD), Mint, Kali, Ubuntu and of course, BL.
Thinking of doing Arch on a NUC that's been sitting in my closet, or maybe freeBSD. Just need a purpose, really.
Can always spin up VM's on my ESXI, but still deciding on purposes and architecture - like maybe pihole, Wazuh, TheHive, OpenVAS, Grafana, Authentik, or Wireguard.

Yet out of all of them, I gotta admit - BL has been my overwhelming favorite.

Colonel Panic · Yesterday 22:42:48

Increasingly now I'm finding that ISOs are getting too big to be burnt to even a DVD-R - the latest installation ISO of Alien Bob's Slackware Current comes to 5.0 GB.

It means that I have to have a utility in another distro that will burn the ISO to a USB pendrive and make it bootable - MX has such a utility, and there are probably other distros that have one too.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (Yesterday 23:20:30)

MarkW · Yesterday 22:45:54

Had a look at the latest KaOS. Niri is certainly interesting

greenjeans · Yesterday 23:42:35

Colonel Panic wrote:

Increasingly now I'm finding that ISOs are getting too big to be burnt to even a DVD-R - the latest installation ISO of Alien Bob's Slackware Current comes to 5.0 GB.
It means that I have to have a utility in another distro that will burn the ISO to a USB pendrive and make it bootable - MX has such a utility, and there are probably other distros that have one too.

Mintstick is what I typically use for a quickie burn, very reliable, in the debian repo too.

PackRat · Today 00:00:26

MarkW wrote:

Had a look at the latest KaOS. Niri is certainly interesting

Did you install it, or just run the live session?

Pretty radical change for them.

MarkW · Today 00:04:45

Just ran the live session.

kozimodo · Today 01:04:49

Colonel Panic wrote:

It means that I have to have a utility in another distro that will burn the ISO to a USB pendrive and make it bootable - MX has such a utility, and there are probably other distros that have one too.

Ventoy.net. You can have multiple ISOs that you simply copy to your flash drive and boot from any of them. Supports multitudes of distros and Windows installer ISOs.

Colonel Panic · Today 03:06:08

Thanks. I have tried Ventoy in the past and might consider it again in the future.

https://www.quora.com/How-does-VENTOY-w … asy-to-use

wickedlester · Today 03:45:42

@MarkW I installed it, it was nice but it only lasted a few hours . @kozimodo I love ventoy I have 22 iso's on mine currently.

Döbbie03 · Today 03:57:45

wickedlester wrote:

@MarkW I installed it, it was nice but it only lasted a few hours . @kozimodo I love ventoy I have 22 iso's on mine currently.

Ventoy is great, I normally keep 6 or so.

wickedlester · Today 04:09:12

I usually take it with me when I visit my dad. He tends to mess up his windows 7 ( yes, windows 7) install and I have to get in there and fix stuff.

Döbbie03 · Today 05:17:00

Time to transition, for Mr wickedlester Snr.

Transition to Linux that is.

WizardofCOR · Today 07:51:02

I'll admit I did like 7 - it's what Vista should've been. Didn't appreciate the telemetry, of course - but that was easily disabled. And the compatibility options were probably the widest in scope for all Windows-based OS's.
So I can't blame anyone for still running it, as long as it's protected appropriately.
For Windows imaging/restoration I would use Macrium Reflect, which was free at the cost of a burner email address.
If I ever needed a USB install for Windows, then Rufus was my preference.
But gonna check out Ventoy for *nix stuff - sounds like a great enabler!

#2801 2026-02-24 13:29:24

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#2802 2026-02-24 16:00:29

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#2803 2026-02-24 19:01:10

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#2804 Yesterday 02:51:34

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#2805 Yesterday 22:42:48

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#2806 Yesterday 22:45:54

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#2807 Yesterday 23:42:35

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#2808 Today 00:00:26

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#2809 Today 00:04:45

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#2810 Today 01:04:49

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#2811 Today 03:06:08

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#2812 Today 03:45:42

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#2813 Today 03:57:45

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#2814 Today 04:09:12

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#2815 Today 05:17:00

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#2816 Today 07:51:02

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