On 24 Oct 1998, Harry Putnam wrote:
[deletia]
> Of course it makes sense to announce what you are running when asking
> questions. In fact, most posts don't have enough of that kind of
> info.
Quite true. However there are at least three ways to install and
maintain Linux:
o You can install a packaged distribution, and keep installing new
releases of same as they become available. I didn't even know, until
sometime this year, that it could be safe to do this. If you follow
this route, then "I have XYZware 9.2" actually means something.
o You can install a packaged distribution and then apply updates of
individual components (bash, cpio, etc.) as needed. This is what
I've done since 1994 or so. I could tell you that I have
Slackware 1.2 but that would be meaningless -- my system hasn't
much resembled Slackware for ages.
o You can get the parts and roll your own system, updating as needed.
At least "I don't have a distribution" isn't misleading.
I, too, usually skip a posting when first I see "I run Fooblian 6.6.6",
because I don't know what that means -- what version of bazomatic did
they ship with that? I don't know. So I probably can't help.
--
Mark H. Wood, radical centrist [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Having seen what's at the edges of the road, I much prefer the dead armadillos.
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