On 06/06/03 Les Mikesell did say:
> For machines that have X, you can use the 'synaptic' GUI wrapper to
> interactively view and select available and installed versions with apt
> doing the work. Freshrpms.net and some similar repositories seem
> to be one-man operations so it must be possible to automate much
> of the work. The really nice thing is that in addition to some specialized
> extra packages, the repositories mirror the RedHat updates so a
> simple:
> apt-get update
> apt-get dist-upgrade
> is all it takes to keep everything you have installed except the
> kernel up to date. (You have to pick the version you want for
> a kernel upgrade). Http://www.fedora.us seems to be an attempt to
> consolidate the different repository contents and arrange for mirror
> distribution. It would be great if SME provided updates in the
> required format or perhaps someone else could do it.
Debian has many fans here, and I'm using apt myself on both Debian
and RedHat boxen at home. That said, it's not so simple as that.
Yes, much of the work in keeping package listings and mirrors up to
date can be automated. The real difficulty, and this is where Debian
does shine, is in QA. It's one thing to put all the packages into a
repository and run some scripts. It's quite another to continuously
upgrade boxes based on the various permutations of installed packages,
report those problems, fix them intelligently...wash, rinse, repeat. The
Debian projects spends horrendous amounts of time doing exactly that. If
the community is prepared to take that task on, great. If not, I think
you'll find that apt, or any other tool, can cause more problems than it
solves.
Regards,
Mike
--
Michael P. Soulier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, 613-592-2122 x2522
SME Solutions, Mitel Networks Corporation
"...the word HACK is used as a verb to indicate a massive amount
of nerd-like effort." -Harley Hahn, A Student's Guide to Unix
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