On Mon, 2004-08-16 at 11:57 +1000, Rod Butcher wrote: > Hello, I'm new to Linux so my questions will be a bit basic for a while. > First, I can do anything I could do on Win2k except logon to StGeorge > Bank BPay (Java applet doesn't allow Linux) and MacQuarie Uni eStudent > system (combination of Javascript and possibly CGI validation won't > accept Linux browser) - before I start raving about conspiracies, are > there any known technical reasons for this ? Or just lazy designers ? > Where are we in Oz re. this?
There are a bunch of people who have this working on the list. I think
you just need a java plugin (can anyone confirm this?). Check out
http://jpackage.org/
for packages for java stuff. This page:
http://jpackage.org/repos.php
explains how to get the package manager to install this stuff. I'm not
familiar with the Macquarie uni stuff, but perhaps someone else here
goes to Macquarie and can help out.
> Secondly, are there any technical benefits
> (e.g. performance, stability) to compiling my own apps vs installing
> precompiled binaries ? I recompiled Perl to 5.8.5 and some fairly
> complex Perl-Gtk2 apps (such as Mandrakes's package manager) seem to
> work instantly now, whereas before there seemed to be a slight delay
> with the precompiled 5.8.3.
Now that's a can of worms. If you *really* *need* performance (the fast
kind, not the "it works!" kind), then Mandrake/Debian/RedHat may not be
your best option. There are other distributions that let you compile the
whole system from source and specify that you want the compiler to
really go to town on optimisations. The reason for using Mandrake's
packages when they are available are more reasons of simplicity,
reliability and ease-of-management. Odds are that you probably can do
something to the compiler to give you a small edge. In my experience
though, it has been too small for me to bother with. Using Mandrake
packages lets you:
* Upgrade easily -- you won't need to rebuild every package you built
from source when you upgrade (note: this may not be entirely necessary,
but if it's performance you're looking for you'd want to rebuild with
the new GCC etc)
* Use the packager's experience in getting the thing running well.
Mandrake employ guys who know lots of stuff about the software they are
put in charge of and they make sure their packages work well. You also
get the advantages of having testers around who tell the mandrake guys
when there's a problem and make sure that the problem gets fixed.
* Not worry about build dependencies and so forth. Building a few simple
things probably won't land you any trouble with this, but it's bound to
bite you at some point. It's a lot less work letting urpmi do your
installations for you.
--
James Gregory <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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