On Thu, Mar 21, 2002 at 09:55:08AM -0600, Erik Hanson wrote: > My question is, since this is all Linux, why can you not just upgrade > what you want on your own? You want the latest MySQL? Down load it > and install it. Want latest PHP? Download and install it. Want > latest kernel? I think you see where I am going. I mean, isn't that > kida the point of linux? It's a little more broad-reaching than just Linux, but yes, that is the point. It's not far from what Bob does at Real-Time with his little SourceForge project to distribute updated RPM's. The interesting thing is that such things happen for Debian 'stable' as well. There have been packages available to allow you to upgrade your old 2.2.x series kernel to the 2.4.x kernel on 'stable', but you need to load the supplementary utility packages as well. The catch is that these packages aren't available on the centralized mirrors for Debian. They are supplemtary packages maintained by someone outside the scope of the Debian project itself. I seriously cannot wait for the day that Debian's 'woody' is actually released as 'stable'. It'll make my life much easier. As a sysadmin, I really /don't/ want to upgrade often. The thing that usually discourages people from downloading software and installing it is that the process can be long and elaborate. Packaged software affords the administrator some savings of time and effort. Still, the tools to create packaged software are freely available, even if the initial cost of using them is the learning curve. Regardless, to say that Debian has a slow release cycle is to speak truely. To say that Red Hat has awful "point oh" (X.0) releases is also to speak truely. To say the Linux kernel itself has bad "point oh" releases is to speak truely. So, perhaps Ben's needs are met more closely by Red Hat than maintaining a handful of Debian packages internally. Perhaps my needs are not so immediate, and I can maintain a 'stable' Debian box easily. People will pick distribution and maintenance models that best suit them and their business. Yay, Free Software! -- Chad Walstrom <chewie at wookimus.net> | a.k.a. ^chewie http://www.wookimus.net/ | s.k.a. gunnarr Get my public key, ICQ#, etc. $(mailx -s 'get info' chewie at wookimus.net) -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 232 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://shadowknight.real-time.com/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20020321/28176905/attachment.pgp