[oclug] what linux distro do you use?

[Robert Brockway]

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004, Brian's Linux Box wrote:

> Dunno why anybody thinks apt-get is superior to urpmi now.
> (am I missing something?)

It isn't so much apt-get as what is behind it.  This short hand (using the
term apt-get to refer to Debian package management) was fine until apt-get
front ends start to appear for other distributions.  What general meant
(IMHO) is the vast array of packages available.  I have not used RH for
any serious work for a long time but last time I checked its selection of
packages was only a shadow of those available for Debian.  Right now
Debian Stable has 8710 packages in it.  Sarge (due RSN) will have
thousands more.  That is what we are raving about.  A vast properly
integrated system.

> And as long as we are talking only x86 I'd suspect the range
> of packages is at least comparable to Debian.

If so then RH has changed a lot.  Can't comment on Mandrake.  I would be
interested to hear if the range of software (even if not the range of
packages) was comparable.

There is one other reason I prefer Debian (and Debian based distro to a
lesser extent).  Debian makes no changes in the Stable series except where
necessary for reasons of security.  Security patches are back ported to
the Debian source tree.  This makes for stability.

I think other distros might be moving more this way but I remember too
many cases of distributions breaking on minor upgrades (RH even removed
default kernel functionality once or twice, which really bit some
people[1]).

[1] Not me, I always hand roll kernels.

Rob

-- 
Robert Brockway B.Sc.
Senior Technical Consultant, OpenTrend Solutions Ltd.
Phone: 416-669-3073, Email: rbrockway at opentrend.net, http://www.opentrend.net
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