On Sun, 25 Mar 2001, Mark Komarinski wrote:
>>> 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.
>>
>> Indeed, that is a reason to stick with a particular distribution.
>
> Absolutely not. Just like everything else in the world, use what works
> best.
Well, yes. I did not say it was an *overwhelming* reason. :-)
>> Remember, folks: Linux is fairly nebulous concept. If you go out and find
>> all the original packages, all you have is a bunch of tarballs containing
>> unconfigured sources. They do not have any particular place in the
>> filesystem they want to live. The distributor has to make that choice.
>
> The purists among us (not I) would say that "Linux" is just the kernel.
While the term "Linux" started out as an Open Source OS kernel aiming at
implementing POSIX, usage has drifted. It now refers to something like a
kernel, and something like a complete operating system, and something like an
industry revolution. It is no longer so easy to pin down. :-)
[Stories of incompatibilities between "like" distributions omitted.]
> There should at least be some sort of compatability within "like"
> distributions ...
I think it is inevitable that incompatibilities between even "like"
distributions will occur. After all, if people were happy with everything in
the "original" distribution, there would be no reason to fork and create a new
one.
> The differences are enough to make me mutter when working on different
> systems.
Maybe it's my background. I started off in the Unix world as a junior admin
at UNH's Space Science Lab. They had just about every OS known to man there:
DOS, Win 3.x, Win9X, WinNT, MacOS, Novell, Ultrix, OSF/1, IRIX, SunOS,
Solaris, VMS... you name it. Anything they didn't run, the folks downstairs
in the Research Computing Center did.
The different distributions of Linux seem downright consistent in
comparison. :-)
--
Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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