Just a bit more info regarding my distro of choice (Debian, of course): Debian's package & dependancy management system is indeed quite cool. However the true advantage is simply that Debian packagers make really good packages. You can basically 'apt-get install <package>' and expect everything to work, installed with a reasonable default configuration selected for you.
As Jacob said, there are 3 different releases to choose from. Also, as he mentioned, you can mix and match the different releases. dependant packages must be upgraded to appropriate versions. - Stable is basically the only "point in time" release. This release gets very current security fixes, but the base packages don't change (security fixes are back-ported). The last stable release was called "woody" and was released December 2002. This means the majority of the packages that come with it are a year old or so. - Testing is a "moving version" with reasonably stable packages. This release tracks packages that have been in "unstable" for a certain period of time (2 weeks or so?). This is the release I run on my mail server. I have a relatively full install, including x/kde3, apache, openoffice, etc. (When my PC crashes I move over there for a while :)) The downside to this release is that security updates take the longest to reach here. - Unstable is where packagers put their latest and greatest packages. AFAIK, this release is as up to date as any of the other (non-Debian) distros out there. This release is also much more stable than the name implies! Many users track this version and report "occasional" bugs. Security updates are released quickly to unstable. As Jacob mentioned, you can have a mixed system. I run testing, plus kde and friends from unstable. -- Chris Thielen Easily generate SpamAssassin rules to catch obfuscated spam phrases: http://www.sandgnat.com/cmos/ Larry Gilson said: > > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Jacob S. >> >> On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 21:01:24 -0500 >> Larry Gilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> > I am running Postfix with SA, Procmail, and Webmin on Red Hat >> > 8.0. I want to move away from RH and am soliciting opinions. >> <snip> >> >> Well, you've heard the Slackware/FreeBSD side from Rick, so >> I'll represent Debian. :-) >> >> I got tired of the dependency nightmares I had with rpms, so >> I switched to Debian and never regretted it. Their >> upgrade/update utility (apt) is very handy. From what I've >> seen, they're usually one of the first distros to release >> security updates when holes are discovered. >> >> If you want bleeding edge hardware and graphics and GUIs, >> stable can be fairly outdated, but I haven't found a reason >> to be unsatisfied with stable for server purposes. Their >> "stable" release currently has php 4.1.2, mysql 3.23.49 and >> apache 1.3.26. >> >> However, even if stable is too old, you can upgrade select >> packages from their "testing" or even "unstable" releases >> without having to upgrade everything, using their "apt >> pinning" feature. Alternatively, there are tools to allow you >> to upgrade software by compiling your own from tarball and >> then creating a "dummy" package so that the package manager >> still knows the dependencies for program xyz are installed. >> >> You can pretty much do any combination of packages that you >> need for your requirements while still taking advantage of >> the package managers features. I find it very flexible, yet >> very powerful. >> >> Just my $0.02 :-) >> >> Jacob > > And your $0.02 is appreciated! Most of what you write is also consistent > with my research. However, I am pleasantly surprised to hear that the > security updates are timely. Most articles just indicate that Debian > updates, in general, are slow. So it is nice to hear that the security > updates do not fall into the 'general' category. > > Thanks Jacob! > > Regards, > Larry ------------------------------------------------------- This SF. Net email is sponsored by: GoToMyPC GoToMyPC is the fast, easy and secure way to access your computer from any Web browser or wireless device. Click here to Try it Free! https://www.gotomypc.com/tr/OSDN/AW/Q4_2003/t/g22lp?Target=mm/g22lp.tmpl _______________________________________________ Spamassassin-talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/spamassassin-talk
