All this does is enforce the already-existing idea that Red Hat is not Debian
is not Slackware and one Linux is not like the others. From an administraiton,
packaging, or installation standpoint, this would be correct. But to spend
my time searching for the documentation for packages between /usr/doc or
/usr/share/doc (as an example) is not a worthwhile use of my time.
Writing documentation about using DocBook, for example, is getting harder since
each distribution puts their DTDs in different locations. I can't put in my
document "Look in /usr/share/sgml for your DTDs", since that won't be correct
if you're using Red Hat.
Now, the choice of using a particular version of glibc or kernel rev or xinetd/inetd
shouldn't matter in regards to standardization.
-Mark
Benjamin Scott wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Mar 2001, Tom Rauschenbach wrote:
>
>> I do know that trying to work with two different distros at the same time
>> is enlightening. Linux needs some standardization badly.
>
>
> No, *you* need some standardization badly. If you want Linux to be the same
> on all your computers, then you should install the same distro of Linux on all
> your computers. :-)
>
> <SOAPBOX>
>
> Linux is about freedom and choice. That includes the freedom to do things
> differently. One of the things that makes Open Source/Free(dom) Software work
> is that such software accepts the fact that one size does not fit all, and
> that different people want to do things different ways.
>
> People have to realize that Linux is not traditional commercial software.
> That means that, among other things, you can do things however the heck you
> want. You have the choice of using a uniform distribution, but you also have
> the choice of doing something else.
>
> I hear people complain that the commercial world needs standardization. Well,
> that is fine by me -- but it is the commercial world that needs that
> standardization, and not Linux.
>
> This is why I do not get upset when I see some commercial vendor saying they
> support "Red Hat Linux" or "SuSE Linux" or whatever. A commercial vendor,
> especially a closed-source vendor, cannot reasonably be expected to support
> just "Linux". That isn't the world they live in. They need to develop, test,
> compile, document, and train in a standard environment. Companies like Red
> Hat, SuSE, Caldera, et. al., give them that environment. The commercial world
> can work out a solution for which distro(s) do(es) that best. If Red Hat ends
> up being the de facto commercial Linux, then that is fine by me -- I don't use
> Linux for the commercial software. I happen to use Red Hat at home because I
> like it, but the instant they start screwing me around, you can bet I'll drop
> Red Hat like a hot potato (indeed, I could drop them *for* a potato -- a
> Debian potato! ;).
>
> If you do not like the thought of being tied to a specific distribution by
> your commercial vendor, then don't use the commercial software! The lock-in
> is not by the distro vendor, but by your commercial software vendor. You made
> your bed, now sleep in it.
>
> Now, I am not against projects like the Linux Standards Base. I think they
> are a good thing. Standards are a good thing. However, the LSB is just a
> document, not a distribution. The LSB will never be complete enough to
> specify every part of a distribution (if it did go that far, then it would
> simply become a distribution you have to assemble yourself). There will
> always be differences between distributions, and between releases of those
> distributions.
>
> The end result is that commercial software companies and the like will
> partner with commercial Linux support companies (like Red Hat), and sooner or
> later some sort of agreement will be reached as to who makes what decisions in
> that world. Independent organizations and people who desire a standard will
> choose what works for them. People who do not care will continue to not care,
> and happily recompile from source.
>
> The only standard Linux must follow is freedom.
>
> </SOAPBOX>
--
Mark Komarinski - Senior Systems Engineer - VA Linux Systems
(cell) 978-697-2228
(email) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Have one day pleasant" - Babelfish
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