On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 23:45, Oliver Jones wrote:
I agree entirely. The great thing about Debian is the project not the tools or the package format. The tools are just the enablers for end users. The last thing I want is for Debian to go away (even as a Fedora Core user). What I want is my distro of choice (Fedora) to get as good as Debian in the package repository and package building areas (we already have the user end package management tools thanks to Debian ;).
I suppose that I should start by making the almost-obligatory declaration that I do not wish to start (or continue) a distro-war.......<g> I am puzzled by this debate. Why is package management such an issue? In my preferred distro (Slackware) installation and/or upgrading seems, for the most part, to "just happen". I seem to have remarkably few problems, and "dependency hell" is becoming a distant memory. I use "slackpkg" to upgrade, and it is simply a matter of entering a minimal amount of text, and walking away for some time (I have a 56k dial-in connection). It isn't that I am expecting very little from my computers: I run the almost all the usual stuff - Open Office, various graphics packages, email/web-browsing, programming tools, MP3/DVD players plus three packages which have been, in one way or another, quite problematic on other distros from time to time. These packages are: GRASS, R, and LyX. All three work perfectly on my slack-boxes. Am I missing something? regards, ********************************************* Dr Denise J. Bates, School of Geography & Environmental Science University of Auckland Private Bag 92019, Auckland New Zealand E-mail: d.bates(a)auckland.ac.nz Telephone 09-3737599 ext 86592 *********************************************