Damn, Jeff responded to Jon's troll while I was offline...
If I get more sleep, will I too sound calm and rational? :P
On Tue, 6 Feb 2001, Jon Biddell wrote:
> >What you're really asking is why Debian is cool. I can answer that.
> >
> >1) Strong policy
> 1a - A bitch to install, if your goal is to get a productive system up
> quickly (vs VERY bloody clowly with NT)
How long do you want a system for? How often do you setup a system to be
only used for a week? a month?
Take your time and do it properly.
I've found the Debian package system keeps the system more cohesive
over time . Most RedHat systems I've used tend to degrade after 6 months
or so - especially with software being compiled and installed
manually. See #4 :)
> >2) Debian is a live distribution
>
> 2a - Which can be dangerous - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If you don't want to live on the edge, then you don't have to.
If you want to stay up-to-date or help develop Debian, you have the
choice. I don't see that choice with RH or SuSE.
> >4) Debian has more packages
>
> 4a - Hmmmmm.... I'll let this slide.
This shouldn't be overlooked. It's not simply a "my thing is bigger than
yours!" taunt that can be brushed off.
When a package is in the main Debian archive, it will get updated with the
rest of the system. All those packages you've compiled yourself, don't. So
it's better to have more packages in the main archive.
This (of course) all depends on the maintainers to keep the packages up to
date, but it has worked very well so far. The bug tracking system (and
other developers) help keep everything in check.
the only problem is that the main Debian servers are/were groaning under
the strain of so many packages.
</rant> ;)
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