[ltp] Re: Preferred distro for Thinkpads?
Brian D. Ropers-Huilman
linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Tue, 16 Aug 2005 06:53:41 -0500
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
I wanted to add a couple more comments to my own rant.
While I have admittedly not tried Debian or the other new distributions of
the day, like Ubuntu or a recent SUSE, I do believe that Gentoo provides one
of the most usable systems simply because you put what you want on it. I
recently did an FC3 install for a friend and was amazed to find out that
there were entire web sites out there dedicated to getting multimedia
working "the right way" on an FC box.
No worries on a Gentoo box. When you build xine or xmms, you tell it what
formats you'll want to use and it will bring in the proper supporting
libraries and their dependencies.
After reading more of this mornings mail, I saw another posting in this
thread saying that installing everything on a machine may not help because
you won't see the dependencies that are automatically pulled in. With a simple:
emerge -punDv world
you get the same list that was mentioned, presumably from a yum --update, or
equivalent. You can see exactly what your system needs to stay updated. You
also see the same thing with each piece of software you want to install; if
there is a dependency, it will show you whatever dependencies you need.
Here's a quick, relevant, example. All the talk about managing wireless
networks led me to look into wpa_supplicant. I simply did this:
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ibis ~ # emerge -punDv wpa_supplicant
These are the packages that I would merge, in order:
Calculating dependencies ...done!
[ebuild N ] net-wireless/wpa_supplicant-0.3.8-r1 -gsm +readline +ssl
1,843 kB
Total size of downloads: 1,843 kB
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this case there were no dependencies. However, I can clearly see that if
I build this package it will fully support SSL or depends on it as a library.
I find this method extremely useful and informative. Also, if I wanted to
install this, I would simply remove the 'p' from the emerge command above,
which was "pretend" mode, and it would install. I don't have to go configure
yum repositories or dig around RPM websites to find a binary. Oh, and if I
cannot find a binary, I don't have to worry about which distribution the
source is for as I know it will "just work" on my machine.
Brian D. Ropers-Huilman said the following on 2005-08-16 06:37:
> I happen to be a Gentoo user as well. Somewhat like Chris Sawtell, I have
> been a Linux on the desktop user since 1998 and used it on servers before
> then. I have been through Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and the
> like over the years. I moved to Gentoo in the Spring of 2002 and have not
> looked back.
>
> Why do I use Gentoo? Ultimate configurability. Their portage system is a
> beautiful blend of the BSD ports system with RPM functionality, but without
> "dependency hell," which was the main motivator for me to ditch Red Hat at
> the time.
>
> As to learning more about your system, I do believe that a Gentoo user will
> have a better understanding not only of their system, but applications,
> dependencies, interaction of components, and the like.
>
> Regarding having to compile everything, I will freely admit it is a PITA and
> while I "perceive" a speed-up, I have not taken the time to measure anything
> to prove it. I, personally, learn nothing more about Linux by compiling my
> code all the time and, if anything, I dislike loosing those CPU cycles.
> However, I will put up with that for the immense flexibility Gentoo gives me.
>
> This flexibility comes at a cost. Compiling all your code is one of them.
> Another is that you have to install and configure everything on your own.
> You want APM to work? You'll have to install (compile) it and write your own
> scripts to handle suspends and resumes. Wireless? -- the same thing.
> Bluetooth? -- even more work.
>
> But, at the end of the day, you will be intimately familiar with your
> machine, your setup, and it's functionality. It is almost empowering to know
> that, first off, you _can_ go out there and do all these things on your own,
> and secondly, that you _have_ done it and really have started to learn more
> about Linux.
>
> Just my US$0.02.
>
> André Wyrwa said the following on 2005-08-15 21:37:
>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>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 your
>>>>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.
>>>
>>>André.
>>>
>
>
> --
> Brian D. Ropers-Huilman .:. Asst. Director .:. HPC and Computation
> Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) bropers@cct.lsu.edu
> Johnston Hall, Rm. 350 +1 225.578.3272 (V)
> Louisiana State University +1 225.578.5362 (F)
> Baton Rouge, LA 70803-1900 USA http://www.cct.lsu.edu/
- --
Brian D. Ropers-Huilman .:. Asst. Director .:. HPC and Computation
Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) bropers@cct.lsu.edu
Johnston Hall, Rm. 350 +1 225.578.3272 (V)
Louisiana State University +1 225.578.5362 (F)
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-1900 USA http://www.cct.lsu.edu/
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
iD8DBQFDAdPFwRr6eFHB5lgRAn4EAJ9Nb5VRMUKgWhrPtck/91q5S8EvawCg+aFR
2Jx3A6TyMZPB0rH+7//mCE0=
=n5E6
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----