Jeff Lasman said:
>> I agree with you, but I've had this conversation before. What it came
>> down to previously, is that some people just get spooked when faced
>> with 'source code' and would rather just use a package manager that
>> will take care of the 'spooky stuff' for them.
>
> Ron, I've been unafraid of source code since before some members of this
> list were born, but the fact is that there are some good reasons for
> using package mangers.
for me to say that i've been unafraid longer than the people on this list
have been born would mean that they're around 8 years old =]
but anyway, as i get older and more experienced (28 years, but i've been
using linux since 1993 and an admin since 1995) the more efficient i want
to be (some call it laziness). so, i no longer get whiz-bang kicks out of
compiling things, and i use apt-get to keep my server up to date. it's
all a matter of keeping things simple (KISS). why should i have to worry
about compiling something if it's already done, dependencies resolved and
it's a helluva lot quicker. i've got other things to do.
> The one that easily comes to mind is that with a package manager I can
> just run apt-get automagically every night, and keep a few hundred
> systems updated.
yum and apt have been life savers for me. i may no longer take care of
150+ servers on a day to day basis, but the handful of fc boxes at home
are stress free for me.
> As far as command prompts are concerned, I laughed when I read the
> thread about how to use all the new desktop tools to set up groups for
> multiple users to have access to the same files; for command-line guys
> like you and me it would have taken under a minute to set up everything
> from the command line.
and you can't exactly write a wrapper for GUI tools, can you? that's what
i love about most of the gui admin tools for linux, most of them are just
wrappers for the cli.
> But even command line users can find lots of reasons to use RPM.
> Especially with YUM and apt-get.
if you have time to worry about compiling all the updates for your system,
then you have way too much time on your hands =]
-d
+( duncan brown : duncanbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx )+
+( linux "just works" : www.linuxadvocate.net )+
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Understatement of the century:
"Hello everybody out there using minix - I'm doing
a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be
big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT
clones"
- Linus Torvalds, August 1991
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