2009/1/20 Paul Hartman <paul.hartman+gen...@gmail.com<paul.hartman%2bgen...@gmail.com> >
> On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 2:36 PM, b.n. <brullonu...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Mark Knecht ha scritto: > > > >> The one thing I would respectfully suggest is that you carefully > >> build your own portage overlay. My experience with Gentoo over the > >> last few years is that there is a _anxiousness_ in the portage > >> maintainer area to move newer revisions of software into portage > >> quickly and then just as quickly to remove from portage what users are > >> currently using. > > > > Really? > > > > I am usually a bit annoyed by the contrary. On an almost 1-year old > > Kubuntu (8.04 Hardy Heron) I can find packages that are just barely x86 > > stable now on Gentoo. > > > > A couple of examples I am aware of: > > Firefox 3: stable just since one month on Gentoo x86, was included in > KB8.04 > > Qtiplot: 0.9.x stable and working on KB8.04, all releases ~x86 (and a > > hell to compile on a stable system -still didn't manage to do it) in > Gentoo. > > > > Python releases are often behind, and not mentioning KDE 4, which is > > even default on 8.10 Kubuntu and on Gentoo was still hardmasked last > > time I checked (but probably Gentoo is just right in this respect, > > everyone keeps telling me to wait before digging into KDE 4). > > > > I fully understand that there are good reasons for that, and that the > > meta-distribution status of Gentoo makes harder to check packages (and > > also that the Ubuntu folks wildly release unstable stuff... firefox 3 rc > > in 8.04, for example). I just feel that (stable) Gentoo is actually a > > bit *behind* the average Linux distribution in its revisions of software. > > > > Most importantly, I also feel that that's something new: when I first > > installed my system, more than 4 years ago, I felt it was *ahead*. I > > wonder if it's due just to the sheer increase of work required to test > > packages, or if there are decisions behind that (or if it's just me > > having false memories). > > When I first installed Gentoo a few years ago, I think I switched from > x86 to ~x86 in the first 24 hours, for the very reason. I wanted to > use the newest versions and the "stable" stuff was so old... It seems > the majority of users are using ~arch these days. > > I see it as a good thing, a sign that Gentoo is maturing beyond just being a 'ricing' distro. Its now possible to have the best of both worlds, whether you want the stability of well tested packages from ARCH, or the chance to get newer packages, but with a chance of bugs and potential breakage by using ~ARCH. Im a happy ~ARCH user myself, and have been for a long time, however i do stick to using plain ARCH on my little server just to keep it stable and happy. - Nick
