[ltp] Re: Preferred distro for Thinkpads?

[Daniel Pittman]

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Andr=E9 Wyrwa <a.wyrwa@gmx.de> writes:

>> > I am, personally, unconvinced that watching software compile grants any
>> > sort of magical knowledge of how it operates, or the best way to
>> > configure it. ;)
>> I agree, but seeing the software compile and configuring it reinforces y=
our=20
>> knowledge about what s/w you have installed on your machine.
>
> Believe me, it doesn't. ;-) I'm on LFS and if i wouldn't have my nice
> little installation documentation file...i wouldn't remember anything.
>
> I think the best advantage of compiling things yourself is that you can
> choose your own dependencies. You don't have to have stuff installed
> that you don't use anyway.

I have to agree with this.=20=20

I would even go so far as to suggest that watching the software compile
can make it harder to identify what is on the machine.

I have not used Gentoo Linux, but have worked with the *BSD ports system
before, which does compile everything from source.

There, when you compile something it may pull in and compile various
dependent libraries to let the current package work.  I presume that
Gentoo must do the same, since anything else can be maddening.[1]


With the ports, the sheer verbosity of the compile process, plus the
time it can take, usually meant that I didn't watch closely.  Dependent
packages could slip in trivially in that process.


On the other hand, when I upgrade my Debian system, I get a short list
of the packages to be installed, and anything that they depended on.

This (usually) fits in less than one (25 line) screen, and tells me
exactly which packages are involved before it does anything.


I suspect that if you were to do user testing, a one page summary like
that would result in more users knowing what was to be installed than
watching a five minute compile and install sequence would.


There are plenty of advantages to compiling from source code, but I
don't think the claim that you know more about what is involved is
really true *for most people*.

For the original poster, personally, it may be true that watching the
compiler run helps here.  I can't comment on his specific experience. :)

Regards,
        Daniel

Footnotes:=20
[1]  In both cases, you can filter in or out at a high level, such as
     "no GNOME", which can change the way packages build, etc.


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