Geoff Rivell on 18 Aug 2004 15:47:03 -0000


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Re: [PLUG] devfs, scsi, & 2.6


On Tuesday 17 August 2004 11:07 pm, sean finney wrote:

> i don't see how "not managing" config files, in combination with not
> adhering to a strict policy of what and where constitutes a config file
> can guarantee the same wouldn't happen in gentoo.  while there's always
> the possibility that a .deb maintainer script will do something Really
> Dumb, if it does, it's without doubt a serious bug, and the developer
> can't argue this when you point at the clause in the debian policy.

Config file management is an area Gentoo is good at.  Choosing left or right 
on the diff is very easy to do :-)

> what do you mean by package availability?  i'd hate this to turn into
> a whose-is-bigger argument, but there's over 8,000 different software
> packages in debian stable, and twice that in the upcoming release
> candidate.  if anything, i'd say one of debian's weaknesses is the
> overabundance of availability, because if you're not familiar with
> the software in question you have to spend the time researching and
> picking out the right one.  who else will give you the choice between
> 19 different web servers, 13 different mail servers, 18 ftp servers...

Agreed.  Debian has way too many packages.  This is an area Gentoo is seeing 
trouble in.  RSYNC'ing a huge database is a pain on Gentoo (overloading their 
servers, etc).  And its not very well organized.  Also, if anyone uses 
APTITUDE they will see how a package management UI should be (IMO).  Its so 
well organized and flexible.

> as far as up-to-datedness goes, i'll again state that is not the goal
> of debian stable...  testing/unstable very much matches the ethos of
> the gentoo "hold back" approach, and provides what i would guess to be
> a very similar collection of software versions.

I'll say this.  Debian unstable has KDE 3.3 beta and I want to strangle myself 
for updating.  It has a few too many problems (like K3B not finding a 
writable source).  Debian unstable is quite bloody :)

The reason I prefer Debian is simple.  I don't see the performance 
enhancements of Gentoo on my P4 3.06 GHz / 512 MB and I do see the compile 
times.  So I would rather wait for someone to make a binary .DEB then compile 
my own and wait that long.  It's really about getting use out of the PC, not 
waiting to get use out of it.  If you were to add Marillats (sp?) apt source, 
you could get MPlayer and all that special non-gpl compat software for Debian 
unstable as well.

My server will be going strictly 'stable' once the new stable is out.

I used Gentoo for about a year and half.  It had its benefits only if you 
didn't know that stuff was available for Debian.  And as far as having an 
updated GLIBC or GCC.... Well, I see no benefit since the apps perform the 
same (to the naked eye) and I don't see proof of Debian being slow for my 
needs.

P.S.  I know replying to this thread is asking for death threats :-P  I have 
been warned.
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