So I installed slackware.

[JadeWolf324]

I am really a fan of Debians APT-GET system. I also prefer that Debian is completely maintained by volunteer contributions. Nobody owns Debian. It's completely free.

This article is a bit dated but it comes down hard on RPM packages.

Is RPM Doomed?

While the RPM Package manager is not inherently flawed, the way it has been implemented on various RPM-based Linux distributions have created major inconveniences for the desktop end user:

1. An RPM-based distribution is risky to upgrade.

2. A more complex binary RPM package is often hard, if not impossible to install.

3. The incompatibilities between different versions of the RPM Package Manager added another layer of complexity.

4. The developers are forced to consider differences between distributions and create multiple binary packages.

I TOTTALY AGREE WITH POINT NUMBER 1.

That is probably the single reason im changing distros...i cant upgrade things without huge problems...

[psychoticDEMENTO]

Grammar police:

"Totally" not "Tottaly"

Once i get better with linux, i just started a little while ago, I'm gonna move to Slackware or even something else. :D

[kemical]

well...installpkg cannot handle tar.gz...but it can handle tgz?

slapt-get seems like a nice idea..im gonna do that when i get home probably..but say if i installed KDE 3.2.0 with slapt-get, would it remove the old one first? like urpmi? or something..

slackware is really nice i like it alot...i dont even really need slapt-get because so far slackware can install any and every source tarball ive put in so far, i love that its "standardized" so everything works nicely.

but how do u uninstall a source tarball? (standard ./configure, make, make install kind)

in your source directory type, make uninstall, make clean.

i suggest following my previous suggestion and use checkinstall -S instead of make install, that way slackware can keep up with all your packages whether you compiled from source or just installed a slack package.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

in your source directory type, make uninstall, make clean.

i suggest following my previous suggestion and use checkinstall -S instead of make install, that way slackware can keep up with all your packages whether you compiled from source or just installed a slack package.

It's exactly when I see posts like this that I think... get a distro with good package / dependency management

[best_uv_d_best]

tar.gz can be supported by ANY linux distro... even if it must be run from the command line (which is the method i have always used).

[kemical]

It's exactly when I see posts like this that I think... get a distro with good package / dependency management

uhm. if you like to have you hand held through everything you do

[JadeWolf324]

So i tried out slapt-get. and its really really good!

not really so necessary but its a nice backup for package management. ill try out what u said about the makeinstall -S kemical..looks like a good idea. so far everything in slack has ran nicely...in my opinion tho..its about time to release slackware 9.2 dont u guys think? :yes:

[rezza Veteran]

See I told you slack was good :)

[kemical]

So i tried out slapt-get. and its really really good!

not really so necessary but its a nice backup for package management. ill try out what u said about the makeinstall -S kemical..looks like a good idea. so far everything in slack has ran nicely...in my opinion tho..its about time to release slackware 9.2 dont u guys think?  :yes:

yea another good reason to keep all your packages in the slackware package list so that when the next cd comes out all you have to worry about is updating not reinstalling ; )

p.s. - its checkinstall -S

:p

[JadeWolf324]

yea another good reason to keep all your packages in the slackware package list so that when the next cd comes out all you have to worry about is updating not reinstalling ; )

p.s. - its checkinstall -S

:p

i knew that :D

i just cant wait till 9.2 comes out! it will have 2.6 Kernel and KDE 3.2.0..it will be my true linux heaven.

so anyone know when the new one is comming out? in a ballpark estiamate?

[kemical]

i knew that :D

i just cant wait till 9.2 comes out! it will have 2.6 Kernel and KDE 3.2.0..it will be my true linux heaven.

so anyone know when the new one is comming out? in a ballpark estiamate?

from the looks of it i think they try to at least keep it between 6-10 month releases :)

[Fred Derf Veteran]

uhm. if you like to have you hand held through everything you do

I like something to work the first time.

Playing with the computer is fine but sometimes you need to get work done.

It comes down to weather you like the drive or the destination Some people prefer the road trip but I just want to get where I'm going.

Linux will never have a desktop presence as long as you need to create your own scripts or patch configuration files.

Apt-Get and/or Synaptic Package Manager is a good start but it could work better. You know what I think about RPMs.

Red Hat users should notice that Debian doesn't release new version every 8 months. If you need a new component just apt-get it. Be they kernels or KDE upgrades or whatever. Synaptic also has an upgrade system button that'll automatically keep you up to date.

Edited February 11, 2004 by fred666

[JadeWolf324]

i agree with this statement...and its what everyones inital attraction to MDK or RH is...but after a while u run into the same problem u have with people who use windows. Windows looses 99% of its power in its upgradablity and its customization.

in linux it may be harder to install stuff...but...with that hard you gain whatever you want.

scenario:

MDK 9.2 cannot upgrade to KDE 3.2 easily if at all (because of its rpm system, its been tested numerous times)

but, slackware can. (based on source balls, and konstruct).

that alone opens many things for you to customize and make the way you want.

linux i argree that linux will never be mainstream because people want ease of use, but my theory about

windows is people create viruses in windows because they hate what they use and they have nothing better to do but be malicious. same thing for linux except. people who are in linux are there because they want to be. so they should be able to do what it takes to install.

edit: what is synaptic?

[Fred Derf Veteran]

edit: what is synaptic?

It's a user friendly GUI frontend to Debian's apt-get system.

It also has a upgrade button that will automatically upgrade all of your installed applications and/or drivers to their latest tested incarnation.

It works like Windows Update except that it is far more encompassing.

[digitallaughter]

I have Knoppix installed on my hard drive which basically means that I run Debian.

It autodetected my scroll wheel on my logitech mouse.

It automatically gives me a boot menu with KDE as an option.

I used APT-GET (well actually I used Synaptic Package Manager which is an apt-get GUI frontend) to install GNOME and it automatically added it to my boot menu.

You shouldn't need to do all this work. Perhaps you should ditch Slackware.

How did you install knoppix to your harddrive?

[revvo]

fred666, with full respect of your knowledge and admiration of debian (which is among best distros), I'l have to quote you for a second.

1. An RPM-based distribution is risky to upgrade.

2. A more complex binary RPM package is often hard, if not impossible to install.

3. The incompatibilities between different versions of the RPM Package Manager added another layer of complexity.

4. The developers are forced to consider differences between distributions and create multiple binary packages.

Before saying that, you said RPM's are for RH/MDK/SuSE. That's partially true. Each distro has it's file structure differences and that's what people ignore. (even I ignore these in detail but I know that there are a few) Somebody takes an .RPM made by some clown and it doesn't work. When a company and/or organization offers RPM's for a specific distro, it's almost 100% sure that they will work with ease (fluxbox, a perfect example.).

We are using more GUI than before but it will never reach the level of which Windows is at (point n click for TEH UBER USERS! :whistle: ) so mind as well learn the most out of linux and not be dependant of tools which do all the work for you. Ask a gentoo lover what other distro he likes. he's gonna say what? none. why? not sure. Emerge does all the job! Hey, EMERGE Is a great ****ing tool I agree but some become so dependant of that, that they freak out on other distros. So at least, try to understand how a tool works to avoid future problems.

Slackware is frikin awesome IMHO cause you learn alot just from using it.

and this was, my 2 cents!

[the evn show]

Ask a gentoo lover what other distro he likes. he's gonna say what? none. why? not sure. Emerge does all the job! Hey, EMERGE Is a great ****ing tool I agree but some become so dependant of that, that they freak out on other distros.

I think a Gentoo user would be quiet happy with FreeBSD (provided they had experience with it). You lose the 'cutting edge' software and technologies that you tend to find in Linux, but you can be reasonably certain anything that is in the standard ports/packages is reliable.

Not that I'm knocking it but Portage is really just a 'clone' of Ports for Linux and once the Gentoo user had a 5 minute introduction to the ports tree they'd feel mostly right at home. A few configuration files are in different locations, and there are the other minor differences that separate BSD from linux but I think over-all they would be reasonably comfortable.

This coming from a Gentoo user who went to OS X for desktop use and BSD on servers, YMMV.

So at least, try to understand how a tool works to avoid future problems.

I couldn't agree more. In an ideal world this wouldn't be a problem - but the world is far from perfect.

[MG-Cloud]

Hey, EMERGE Is a great ****ing tool I agree but some become so dependant of that, that they freak out on other distros. So at least, try to understand how a tool works to avoid future problems.

I totally agree with that - I'm in that situation myself. I have a general understanding of what's going on, but I do need to know more. When I get my new laptop I'm going to install LFS on it for kicks (and then remove it after - I don't have time to do manual package management :D) That way, there'll (hopefully) be nothing I miss during the install process.

[UKer]

With Slack, in the past I've always used swaret - that handles distro upgrades admirably. As for other systems, Debian's apt-get is great so long as you're running Sarge, I tried Sid/testing and the system ended up broken with endless dependancy errors after a few months, but I suppose that's what you get for running untested and unstable packages. I found Sid was also full of bugs and problems, while Sarge works amazingly well and is the most stable system I've run.

[revvo]

the evn show

I think a Gentoo user would be quiet happy with FreeBSD (provided they had experience with it). You lose the 'cutting edge' software and technologies that you tend to find in Linux, but you can be reasonably certain anything that is in the standard ports/packages is reliable.

I guess I forgot about BSD :o That's my mistake there for saying "none". I guess I was talking about distributions based on linux (and not the many unix variants)