[] The reason there aren't multiple binary distributions (stable, [] unstable, testing, etc.) was because the target audience for Fink is [] somewhat different than that of Debian: MacOS users vs. Linux users.
I really wouldn't mind if the testing and unstable are source only distributions but I'm still educating myself on the difference between being a MacOS user and a Linux user. Last year when I setup my previous system, I just installed various fink packages and was too busy working to really delve into it to understand the differences. But the big reason I found the debian testing installation very interesting & useful to me was that debian stable was a very slow to change entity and debian unstable was too shaky to use a my primary work machine. Debian testing just filled the bill; fairly stable with reasonably frequent updates & bug fixes. I just need to understand the parallels between the different distros. Is fink unstable a reasonably high quality or will it let me down when I really need to get something done? [] The /stable and /unstable shortcuts do sound like a useful idea to me, [] though I usually run all unstable--since I come from a Linux [] background, I'm well aware of the pitfalls. For debian doing "apt-get install FU/testing BAR/unstable" was very useful so a similar syntax for "fink install <packagename>[/<distro>]" would be great __BUT__ the ordering thing would need to be solved first so that the prefered distro version is installed instead of always the latest and greatest. If my powerbook wasn't my main platform for contracting, then I would go unstable but I need tools to work reasonably well most of the time. I could go another route and install both the stable and unstable versions to check out the quality of unstable. If I do source only & build everything, could I easily build & install into /sw.stable and /sw.unstable (ie without messing with each package)? OK. I rambled on enough. Regards, dcj ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Perforce Software. Perforce is the Fast Software Configuration Management System offering advanced branching capabilities and atomic changes on 50+ platforms. Free Eval! http://www.perforce.com/perforce/loadprog.html _______________________________________________ Fink-beginners mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/fink-beginners
