Well said, Ben. It appears that it Debian's philosophy is only useful if 1) you really don't need to do useful work because you'll only use free stuff or 2) All your work can be done only with free tools. I believe this was illustrated some time back when Netscape was the only browser - but it wasn't free so what is a Debian to do if it's the only game in town. What does Debian do about running MS apps under Linux. Like it or not it's a requirement in many case because people can't switch cold turkey or the app is only available for Windows. Wine doesn't cut it for many apps but Crossover, VMWare, and others - all commerical - do work very well. So if a client needs an MS app but wants to run it under Linux because of the stability and reliabilty what does the Debian philosopy do - condemm him to run Windows because non of the free apps won't run what he needs and we sure can't use non-free?
For most of us who have to earn a living Gentoo is the ideal fit. I have Nvidia cards in my systems and I can use them to their fullest because Gentoo has an ebuild to install the drivers - although they are "TAINTED" according to RMS. They work. Why should I be forced to use Windows just to get the most out of my hardware. Gentoo let's me run my MS app even if I use commercial software - the client is happy and so am I since I'm not having to administer and maintain Windows boxes (been there done that - got the scars <G>). Sergy - if you don't like Gentoo's social contract and the fact allow "non-free" software in portage please stick with Debian - you'll be happier. On Wednesday 19 November 2003 20:47, you wrote: > First off, I'll agree that the management structure document itself is > rather buried. I found it > > The philosophy link on the website makes it quite clear that Gentoo is > about "getting things done". It calls for neither the crushing of the > prolitariat nor a strict mindless adherance to the word of God Emperor > Richard M Stallman. It states (in italics even): "The most fundamental > issue is designing a technology that allows us and others to do what they > want to do, without restriction." That sounds like the definition of "free > as in freedom" to me. > > To me, Gentoo is about giving you the tools to build it your way. Gentoo > is about getting work done, the way you like getting it done. > -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
