On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 09:59:02 +1200 "C. Falconer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Jim - Don't believe all those gentoo ricers out there who are quite prepared > to spend hours recompiling everything for 0.01% performance improvement. > > If you're happy with debian then stay with it, and there must be a way > around the problem. > > Keep the list informed as to how it goes. I do not disagree with "If you're happy with debian then stay with it". However you misrepresent the gentoo advantage, and i don't want to start a distro war, just clear up a misapprehension. gentoo is not just about the small percentage in improvement in speed, in fact on modern systems and with most software the difference is not particularly noticeable [1]. True, at one time this speed improvement was touted as a major justification for gentoo, but i don't think its the selling point it was once made out to be. Also the aggressive compiler flags that some promote as creating the fastest version of blahfoo often break some builds, its just not worth going all out if you want stability. A real major selling point (IMHO) is illustrated by Jim's question - how do you include a particular compile time option while still maintaining compatibility with your distro's packaging and security systems? To keep with Jim's example, in gentoo you can set a USE flag called mysql which will ensure that exim is compiled with mysql support each and every time it is compiled, including security updates. This can be done globally, so that every package that has optional mysql support will get the same treatment, or on a package by package basis, so that only exim(and whatever else you choose) is compiled with mysql support. Choice is the key in gentoo. Here endeth the lesson, except to say that there are docs about that tell you how to install portage on other distros. I have never tried this, but could Jim have his cake and eat it, by having exim packaged by gentoo and everything else debianised with apt? [1] people still report that OOo startts up a lot faster if compiled for the machine, as opposed to downloaded in binary form (which is possible on gentoo). theres always room for performance tweaks on bloatware. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Gareth Williams [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, 13 September 2004 5:42 p.m. > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Right way to compile Debian packages? > > > On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 17:32:00 +1200, Jim Cheetham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Paul William wrote: > > >> I'll be caught out when an upgrade happens, won't I? > > > > > > Not as long as your package version does not conflict with Debian > > > packages i.e. create a package with the version x.ab-zy_jim such as > > > 3.36-11_jim. > > > > Than I'll be caught out when a security upgrade comes along, and I > > don't get the new patch, eh? > > So keep an eye on debian-security-announce and every time there's a security > upgrade, you build yourself a new package. Better than upgrading to their > package and having your mysql support evaporate while the package is in use > ;-) > > I hate to echo others, but it really is a pity you're not using Gentoo for > this. You'd probably just have to set the appropriate mysql USE flag and > forget about it forever more ;-) > > Cheers, > Gareth -- Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
