Before I format my openSUSE 12.3 installation...

The face of the GNU movement. GNU is affiliated with Linux software.

It was bound to happen...

This was reality for me, for the past few years: Error notifications popping up, with the system letting me know that it could not connect to a software repository. Suddenly, even uninstalling existing software became impossible, because I could not connect to the existing repository. 

My faithful old laptop was on its last legs, having gotten a booster shot from openSUSE 12.3 some time back. But upgrading openSUSE to 13.1, and then to 13.2, seemed difficult, and unnecessary at the time. So I soldiered on, using 12.3, not knowing what would happen... 

But I did know what would happen. Software would stop updating. Google Chrome would tell me that the browser is outdated and that I have to upgrade to a newer version.

Enter the rolling release

Over the past few days, I've been looking at various distributions. Yes, it's window shopping time again. Which Linux distribution will it be for me this time? 

So I started with openSUSE and I read a little bit more about Tumbleweed, the rolling release. For those unfamiliar with "rolling release", it is a Linux distribution that gets upgraded to the latest packages automatically. It will never get out of date, because the latest packages will be on your system. 

The only foreseeable problems are these:

1. The upgrades somehow break the system. Possibility: Not that high, considering that the packages are supposed to work with each other. Stick with a semi-commercialized vendor like SUSE and you should be safe, right?
2. The upgrades are not supported by the ageing hardware specifications. Possibility: Not high right now, but increasing in the future. Who am I kidding, my computer is old. It's more than seven years old. Many people throw in the towel at 3 years and get a new one. 

So I've narrowed it down to a few "rolling release" distributions. Here are the contenders:

1. openSUSE Tumbleweed. Why: I'll be on familiar ground. At the same time, the openSUSE website has stated that an "offline upgrade" to Tumbleweed is possible, simply by inserting the Tumbleweed DVD into the DVD drive. The DVD will detect the settings and upgrade the system automatically. So, no need to format? That sounds workable.
2. Manjaro Linux: Why: It's based on Arch Linux, which was built from the ground up as a "rolling release" distribution. But where Arch Linux presents new users with a black terminal, effectively saying, "Hey, you can do whatever you like with it", Manjaro comes reasonably themed and customized, so that you can hit the ground running. Think of it as the Mint Linux (which is a customized Ubuntu distribution) of Arch Linux distributions. Similar to Mint Linux, it has a large user base and community editions have popped up to support various desktop environments, including Gnome, Deepin, and Budgie.
3. Antergos: Why: Another Arch Linux distribution. It came highly recommended as a "soft landing" for newbies to Arch Linux, as an alternative to Manjaro Linux. So either Manjaro or Antergos. However, Manjaro seems to have (for now) a larger community base.
4. Elementary OS: Why: Because it looks nice. But actually, it's not a rolling release distribution. I've just included it because it looks nice. And because, if I were to go back to Ubuntu-based distributions, I'd like to try something other than Mint Linux, which makes getting into root so difficult. 

Now that I think of it, there's one more possible problem with rolling release distributions. So here is problem #3: I use Brother printers in my office, because they offer printer drivers in RPM and DEB formats. With Manjaro, Antergos, or any other Arch-based distribution, I'd have to convert the printer driver packages into AUR format. 

There's nothing like getting your hands dirty to learn the nuts and bolts of something. That's what I always tell people. You can buy a book on swimming, but you're going to have to jump into a pool to learn it. It seems to apply to making Brother printers work on Arch-based distributions, too.

A list of programs currently installed

Here are some programs currently installed on my openSUSE 12.3 installation. I won't need all of them, but it's nice to keep tabs. Just in case. You never know.

1. XMind 2013, Portable (paid)
2. VueScan (paid)
3. LibreOffice
4. Ardour (paid)
5. Atlantis (Windows-based, running on Wine)
6. Abiword (word processor)
7. Gnumeric (spreadsheet)
8. Calligra Suite (office)
9. Google Web Designer
10. R Studio
11. Weka (machine learning)
12. Gephi 
13. R
14. yEd
15. GIMP
16. Pinta
17. Hugin Batch Processor
18. Synfig Studio
19. Pencil 2D
20. Kolourpaint
21. Darktable
22. digiKam
23. DNG Converter
24. Expoblending
25. Luminance HDR
26. Panorama
27. Photo Layouts Editor
28. showFoto
29. XSane
30. Blender (3D)
31. Filezilla
32. VLC
33. Audacity
34. Cinelerra
35. Kdenlive
36. Kwave sound editor
37. Openshot
38. K3B (CD burning)
39. Calibre
40. FoxitReader
41. Okular
42. ProjectLibre
43. LyX
44. Scribus
45. iBus (input)
46. ReText (Markdown / reStructured Text editor)
47. Leafpad
48. Scrivener beta (Linux)
49. Gliffy (Chrome app)
50. Mendeley Desktop (research paper manager)
51. PSPP (statistics analysis)

I hope that I can reinstall some of these after I reformat this laptop.

Wish me luck!

Update

So, here I am, typing this from my old laptop. It runs Elementary OS now. Here's what happened:

1. openSUSE Tumbleweed booted into the KDE Live environment without problem, and it was very nice. However, there was no "install" button. I tried rebooting from the Live DVD, and at the menu, I choose "Installation". Instead, it booted into the KDE Live Environment again. After several attempts, it seemed that it could not install on my laptop. My fault for downloading the KDE Live DVD, instead of the large installation DVD.
2. Manjaro Linux couldn't even boot into the live environment. I tried changing the boot parameters, even including safe settings (for kernel), but nothing seemed to work. I gave up.
3. Antergos Linux booted into a rather sparse desktop, with only the installer available. As noted, the installer is experimental and I opted not to take any chances. At the same time, the installer recommended that I connect to the Internet for a better installation. I clicked on my network's SSID, but it could not connect. The WiFi password could not be entered, and Antergos failed on that account.
4. I finally popped Elementary OS into the DVD drive. I booted it up. It offered a live environment for testing or installation. I chose installation. 

What I learned: You can have root in Ubuntu easily. Type in "sudo passwd root" and enter a password for root. Next time you're at the Terminal, just invoke it with "su" and you can proceed from there.