Re: [cobalt-developers] Re: (OT) SPARCRaQ (cobalt-developers digest, Vol 1 #1392)

[Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

System_FS wrote:

> please try debian before saing that (howewer you are quite right
> if you are talking about upsteam packages, but the work of a serious
> distribution is exactly to put packages "with one another in mind")

I admit I've never tried Debian.  Perhaps I will for a system I want to
put into production in another week or so.  What's the BEST place to
download ISOs?  If they don't support my NIC (so far only RedHat >= 7.1
does of all I've tried) will it be a real pain?  Or just a module ?  I
presume I won't have to recompile the kernel, but only build and rename
a module?  Swapping the NIC isn't the option; it's built-on to the
slotless motherboard <frown>.

I suppose I'll have to relearn a bit... is there a good Debian book you
can recommend?

> true, but there exists sash busybox-static e2fsck-static ...

True, but most software vendors/developers/manufacturers do NOT support
static linking, describe how to do it in their install files, etc.,
etc.  Making it hard for newbies to figure any of this out.  I'd LOVE to
use all statically-linked software; drive-space is cheap.

> > For upgrades, cvsup and "make world" are your friends.
> 
> apt-get is even better (both for source and for binary upgrades).

Like Eddy, no experience so I certainly cannot argue <smile>.

> sorry but linux cannot be at this hell level (one *can* have different
> versions of librariers)

I agree, but when I had trouble installing neomail on a Red Hat Linux
7.1 box, and studied all the documentation online, and spoke to the
developer, no one suggested this to me; I did it myself.  Again, a rank
beginner wouldn't be up to this skill level (or even this level in terms
of thinking it out, if s/he came from a Windows background) for a few
years.

> > As someone with eight years Linux experience and a paltry two or
> > three under BSD, I moved from Linux to BSD.
> 
> Wheen (and if) the debian on a bsd kernel project will be finished
> I will possibly move (almost) all my linux and FreeBSD machines to that.

We older Americans probably remember seeing a lot of western movies on
television when we were young, so we fully understand the definition of
a pioneer as someone who gets a lot of arrows in his back <wry grin>.  I
prefer to wait until a year or two after something like that is finished
<smile>.

> For now I think that a mix of debian linux and [Free|Open|Net]BSD is a
> reasonable choice for any experienced administrator.
> Y regret very much that Cobalt/Sun does not use the rpm porting
> of apt-get for software upgrades.

It makes a lot of sense for any Red Hat-based linux distribution to use
RPM.

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Linux and Cobalt/Sun/RaQ Consulting
nobaloney.net
P. O. Box 52672, Riverside, CA  92517
voice: (909) 778-9980  *  fax: (702) 548-9484