This isn't putting fuel on the fire. You've used a case where the packages are available via the standard install tools. What if I want PHPv1 or PHP6. Obviously these aren't real world examples, but what he's asking is "How do I install when there ISN'T an official package available?" You didn't address that question at all.
Gentoo is nice because it compiles everything from source, so if you have an older version you likely already have the options necessary to successfully compile a new one from source before it's made available. Debian is nice because there are so many flavors that docs almost always exist, and it's trivial to add another repository to supplement what is already available. And this is in there by design, so you can restrict what gets upgraded. Apt seems built with this flexibility in mind. I won't pretend that I'm a Mandriva or URPMI expert. I haven't seen it in years. But I suspect that you will not be able to use a Red Hat or Suse repository against it, whereas it's quite possible and common to use Debian repositories against *buntu. Perhaps LSB is at a point where this is now possible, but I doubt it. Kev. On Monday 12 November 2007 12:58:13 bogi wrote: > Also Mandriva with it's backport and experimental repositories, it is > likely it would support newer and a lot older versions of certain apps for > you. A particular example regarding php, a Mandriva 2007.0 installation did > have php4 and 5 in the main repository, so all you needed is urpme php and > urpmi php4 and you are done downgrading your system from php5 to php4, it > is running as production for nearly a year now ... > And yep, Mandriva is rpm based :-) just to put fuel on that one :-) > Cheers > Szemir > > On November 11, 2007 21:13, Kevin Anderson wrote: > > I'd recommend that this is ultimately what determines the distro you > > should use. > > > > If things are not easy to update, every when the distro says "don't go > > there", then move along to another distro. > > > > Thankfully, as others have already mentioned, Debian and derivatives > > (*buntu, Xandros, etc) are all excellent at this. My experience with Red > > Hat and SLES has not been similarly positive. I generally don't use the > > fedora or openSuse versions. Basically, the RPM distros seem to limit > > your upgradability. Not sure why, but they do. I've hit the same > > problem trying to get SLES9 or RHEL4 to run PHP5. It initially looks > > easy enough, but ultimately, you reach the point where it's just not > > worth pursuing... > > > > Intentional or not, my gut says you've made the right choice. It's the > > one I make, so there may be some bias involved when I say that... :) > > Gentoo seems quite flexible in this area too. > > > > Kev. > > > > On Sunday 11 November 2007 20:34:42 Mark Carlson wrote: > > > On Nov 11, 2007 2:00 PM, John Clarke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Hi, > > > > > > > > Could someone help clarify for me what my options are to upgrade to > > > > an app version that my distro's package manager does not support? > > > > > > > > To illustrate my question and goal: last April I installed Debian > > > > 4.0, whose Synaptic tool supports OpenOffice 2.0 > > > > > > > > But with OpenOffice at 2.3, how can get my paws on that current > > > > release? > > > > > > > > The way I see it my options are, in order of effort: > > > > > > > > 1) wait for next Debian stable release > > > > - unspecified release date > > > > - I assume/hope next release will install over 4.0, but expect > > > > distro will still lag a given app's current release > > > > > > > > 2) in Debian 4.0 uninstall OpenOffice 2.0 and install 2.3 > > > > - somehow use for eg. Synaptic to advance distro to support a more > > > > current app version > > > > > > > > 3) Switch to a more progressive distro like Ubuntu, with routine > > > > releases in April and October. > > > > - best in the long run, to keep up with current app release > > > > > > > > Have I missed anything or can anyone shed light on whether 2) is > > > > doable and routine or instead impractical and inadvisable? Are > > > > package managers such as Synaptic (I believe Ubuntu's Adept uses the > > > > same underlying APT tool), or some other tool(?) intended to do 2) or > > > > am I out of luck? > > > > > > > > Thanks for any recommendations, pointers! > > > > > > I often have the same problem with old distros (I'm running Fedora > > > Core 4 on a system because it is a pain to upgrade because of some > > > proprietary development tools.) > > > > > > For big or important packages, I handle it myself. > > > > > > You can download OO.o 2.3 from openoffice.org and install it on any > > > distro. It might end up in the wrong directory if you aren't careful, > > > but that is easily remedied. > > > > > > I do the same thing with Firefox and Pidgin on FC4, and haven't had > > > any problems yet. > > > > > > YMMV, though. > > > > > > -Mark C. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > clug-talk mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > > > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > > > **Please remove these lines when replying > > > > _______________________________________________ > > clug-talk mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > > **Please remove these lines when replying > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [email protected] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > **Please remove these lines when replying _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
