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
I suppose if you were going for a dselect type tool this would probably be the
way to go. I remember using it and yes it does handle deps pretty friggin
good. It's been a while since I used YaSt so I can't give a full and extensive
reply on this one. But I'm all for something like this(as far as a dselect type
tool goes.)
--
Bryan Paxton
"How should I know if it works? That's what beta testers are for. I
only coded it."
-- Linus Torvalds.
Public key can be found at http://speedbros.org/Bryan_Paxton.asc
