--- Frank Meurer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
<snip a lot of extra stuff>
> > *nod* but why not jump in ahead to offer something
> appealing and easy to manage
> > for the sys admin ?
> Ahh! That's the point!
> You say: deb is easy to use (or easy to manage).
> Jose says: rpm is easy because it protects user from
> doing wrong.
> I say: Now we should define "easy"... :-)
>
Well, it _can_ be pretty easy for the sysadmin... One of
the things I always liked about SuSE is the way yast (the
older console based version) handles package management.
It shows all the rpm's available on the distribution CD's,
sorted either by group or alphabetically, pops up a warning
if you are trying to install something that conflicts w/
something else, allows you to view conflicts, allows to you
have it auto-complete the dependencies, be it installing or
removing packages, and it does allow you to ignore
conflicts and continue. It also gives the option for
backing up files that would be changed, prior to actually
changing things (to be honest, I never did that, so I don't
know how well a restoration would work). After all the rpm
work is done, it (yast) goes thru and makes any needed
changes to config files based on it's main config file.
The downside? Well, it is yast, which is a SuSE thing.
Two, I always got the feeling that I didn't have the best
overall grasp or feel for the system, as it was controlled
by SuSEconfig, which is a centralized config file. Three,
it doesn't work nearly as well (as far as integration) w/
non-distribution rpms. The other nice thing is you can
have it install rpms via ftp, which was a handy way of
getting updates from SuSE. All from a
console-user-interface, so it could be used from a telnet,
or from an xterm, it didn't matter.
Yes, there is urpmi. Haven't tried it yet, but my
(unqualified) opinion/impression is that it isn't quite as
complete as the system I described above. RpmDrake is nice
for the GUI environments... when it works. I think this is
what people might like, something that bridges the gap btwn
gui and cli -- it would give them a menu-driven 'windowed'
application from which to do stuff, w/ context-sensitive
help screens, but w/o the overhead/hassle of X Window.
I am looking towards purp right now, for cli package
management. Looks good so far.
Monte
=====
"Here, catch! Don't worry, it won't bite...BBZZZZAAAAPPP!!!...much <snicker>"
What an unsuspecting mechanic hears as he learns to never, ever, play 'Catch' with a
bored electrician ;)
Monte Milanuk
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