You should try Debian. If you are impressed by *BSD's ports tree, you are gonna love apt-get. I haven't played with the rpm<->apt-get thingie that John Beamon just mentioned because rpm didn't automatically download it's dependencies (how's that for irony). :) Or, I'm just too lazy to go find those packages to fulfill those dependencies. Package definition for Debian packages (.deb) seems to be a little more organized than .rpm packages. I can run one command "apt-get packagename" and automatically download and install packagename including all of its dependencies. I assume this is also possible due to the strict adherence of Debian to the file system archictecture guidelines (FSH?) for both the distro and .deb definitions. Another nice tool is dselect, which is like a package browser in ncurses. Much nicer than any RPM GUI tool I've seen and it WORKS. The Debian install is a little different from Redhat/Mandrake, but once you understand the difference between stable vs. unstable, US vs. non-US, free vs. non-free and how to define your package sources, you got it. It's actually easier than I'm making it sound. The thing I really liked when Hunter first introduced me to Debian over at FastBand (hey Hunter!) was that Debian installed with ONLY what it needed to do basic stuff (network, package management, etc.) and then I decided what else I wanted to install. There are even pre-defined profiles (development workstation, server, etc.) of packages to speed this up. Also, uninstalling packages is just as easy. Select all emacs junk in dselect; poof. Instant 20 megs of usuable disk space. I do need to get more familiar with the command line tools, as dselect is a package browser and so it is slow. If you decide to try it out, lemme know if you need some help. John Hebert System Engineer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Changing your state of mind through sound. <p><p><p><p>-----Original Message----- From: Dustin Puryear [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 02:21:16 +0000 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [brluglist] Linux needs something like *BSD's ports tree WAS: Compaq Deskpro <p>John Alex Hebert wrote: <em>> <em>> Linux needs a whole bunch of things. The problem is that it has too many things <em>> already. There is an effort to define a standard for Linux distributions: <em>> http://www.linuxbase.org and there is a FAQ with some interesting info on <em>> packaging systems at: http://www.linuxbase.org/spec/faq.html. <em>> <em>> What do you think about Debian's packaging system? I think it is much easier to I've never used Debian. <em>> use than RPM and have found far fewer problems with it (dependencies). Also, <em>> RPM doesn't seem to update its database correctly when I install a package. Hey <em>> John Beamon: Should I be issuing another rpm command after installing a package <em>> so that the RPM database knows it has been installed? It only happens <em>> sometimes, but it is confusing. RPM *should* be tracking this already. Regards, Dustin <em>> <em>> John Hebert <em>> System Engineer <em>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <em>> Changing your state of mind through sound. <em>> <em>> -----Original Message----- <em>> From: Dustin Puryear [EMAIL PROTECTED] <em>> Sent: Mon, 01 Jan 2001 17:14:19 +0000 <em>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <em>> Subject: Re: [brluglist] Compaq Deskpro <em>> <em>> John Alex Hebert wrote: <em>> > <em>> > Agree with you about the ease of configuration concerning NAT. IP filtering is <em>> > just as easy. <em>> > <em>> > Just wondering: why are you running OpenBSD 2.5 instead of 2.8? <em>> <em>> I purchased the CD a while back and so used that. <em>> <em>> BTW, the whole /usr/ports and pkg_add thing is killing me. Linux needs <em>> that. <em>> <em>> Regards, Dustin <em>> <em>> > <em>> > John Hebert <em>> > System Engineer <em>> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <em>> > Changing your state of mind through sound. <em>> > <em>> > -----Original Message----- <em>> > From: Dustin Puryear [EMAIL PROTECTED] <em>> > Sent: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 19:56:03 +0000 <em>> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <em>> > Subject: [brluglist] Compaq Deskpro <em>> > <em>> > I finally figured out the Compaq Deskpro units. The whole BIOS setup on <em>> > floppy deal is a bit silly, but I have OpenBSD running as we speak. Talk <em>> > about easy to configure--I had both networks cards and NAT setup in <em>> > under 5 minutes after reading the OpenBSD FAQ. (Setting up networks <em>> > cards under *BSD is similar to working with <em>> > /etc/sysconf/network-scripts/ifcfg-* under RH Linux.) <em>> > <em>> > I'd say that if you are at all familiar with UNIX then setting up a <em>> > OpenBSD (or FreeBSD) router is easier that doing the same under Linux. <em>> > The syntax for ipfw or ipchains seems a bit contrived now that I've <em>> > worked with /etc/ipnat.rules and /etc/ipf.rules. <em>> > <em>> > Next, I'll setup the firewall! <em>> > <em>> > Anyway, I'm running OpenBSD 2.5. For more information read <em>> > http://www.openbsd.org. <em>> > <em>> > Regards, Dustin <em>> > <em>> > PS Package management is a kick in the pants as well. <em>> > <em>> > -- <em>> > Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <em>> > In the beginning the Universe was created. <em>> > This has been widely regarded as a bad move. <em>> > - Douglas Adams <em>> > ================================================ <em>> > BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group <em>> > Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. <em>> > Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change <em>> > your subscription information. <em>> > ================================================ <em>> > <em>> > ___________________________________________________________________________ <em>> > Visit http://www.visto.com/info, your free web-based communications center. <em>> > Visto.com. Life on the Dot. <em>> > <em>> > ================================================ <em>> > BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group <em>> > Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. <em>> > Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change <em>> > your subscription information. <em>> > ================================================ <em>> <em>> -- <em>> Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <em>> In the beginning the Universe was created. <em>> This has been widely regarded as a bad move. <em>> - Douglas Adams <em>> ================================================ <em>> BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group <em>> Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. <em>> Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change <em>> your subscription information. <em>> ================================================ <em>> <em>> ___________________________________________________________________________ <em>> Visit http://www.visto.com/info, your free web-based communications center. <em>> Visto.com. Life on the Dot. <em>> <em>> ================================================ <em>> BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group <em>> Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. <em>> Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change <em>> your subscription information. <em>> ================================================
-- Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> In the beginning the Universe was created. This has been widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams ================================================ BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change your subscription information. ================================================ <p><p>___________________________________________________________________________ Visit http://www.visto.com/info, your free web-based communications center. Visto.com. Life on the Dot. ================================================ BRLUG - The Baton Rouge Linux User Group Visit http://www.brlug.net for more information. Send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] to change your subscription information. ================================================ <!-- body="end" --> <hr noshade> <ul> <li><strong>Next message:</strong> Dustin Puryear: "Re: [brluglist] Linux needs something like *BSD's ports tree WAS: Compaq Deskpro" <li><strong>Previous message:</strong> Dustin Puryear: "Re: [brluglist] Linux needs something like *BSD's ports tree WAS: Compaq Deskpro" <li><strong>Next in thread:</strong> Dustin Puryear: "Re: [brluglist] Linux needs something like *BSD's ports tree WAS: Compaq Deskpro" <li><strong>Reply:</strong> Dustin Puryear: "Re: [brluglist] Linux needs something like *BSD's ports tree WAS: Compaq Deskpro" <li><strong>Messages sorted by:</strong> [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ] </ul> <hr noshade> <small> <em> This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : <em>Thu Sep 06 2001 - 11:10:49 CDT</em> </em> </small> </body> </html>
