[clue-tech] Debian musings [was installfest]

[Collins Richey]

On 5/14/06, David L. Anselmi <anselmi at anselmi.us> wrote:
> Collins Richey wrote:
> [...]
> >> They say "With a predictable release cycle [...] Kubuntu is the
> >> GNU/Linux distribution for everyone".  Not for me though.  I prefer no
> >> release cycle at all.
> >
> > I would say Kubuntu is the Linux distribution for everyone since I'm
> > not too fond of that particular Debianism.
>
> Do you mean the "GNU/Linux" Debianism?  That's the accurate way to say
> it, Linux is just the kernel.

We'll agree to disagree here. I just get really tired of that phrase
repeated 15 times on every page of documentaion when (IMO just plain
ole Linux will do just fine. I just hold my nose and read on.

>  Since I use testing I get whatever's
> new when it's migrated.  So sometimes there are big upgrades (like KDE)
> but never one huge one that changes everything.  But what big upgrades
> have I been through?
>

[ much snippage here ]

>
> I will note that upgrades that might break lots of user code or config
> (Exim 3 to 4, Apache 1 to 2, Postgresql 7 to 8) are usually done in a
> way that allows you to pick when it happens.

That's good to hear. Ubuntu has continued the practice.

>
> So I don't think there's any magic to binary distros causing disruptive
> upgrades.

There is a lot of magic ()or bad juju) with most binary distros that
don't do continuous upgrades a la Debiian Testing.

Thanks for the length discussion of Debian philosophy and practice. I
may well migrate over to Debian Testing, but I have a few conflicts to
resolve.

1. They appear to have dropped the mplayerplug-in (which Debian has
renamed to mozilla-mplayer) in Etch. At least I can't find it
anywhere. I have mplayer with the plugin working nicely on Ubuntu, and
I don't want to give that up.

2. I haven't checked the levels of MySQL and PostgreSQL carefully, but
I know that Etch installs Postgres 7. Since I have existing MySQL and
Postgres databases, I'll have to resolve that first.

3. I've gotten spoiled by Ubuntu. They make the latest versions
(installed alongside the approved versions) of things quite easy to
get without monkeying with the base. How does one accomplish the same
thing with Etch/Testing? How can I (reliably) add Postgres 8 PHP5,
etc,. etc. without upsetting the applecart? I presume these packages
are in Unstable, but I don't want to convert to Unstable, just have
later versions of a few things.

-- 
Collins Richey
     If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries
     of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.