Al Davis wrote:
But they don't need to upgrade to the latest distro and version.
They only need to install the appropriate libraries, and
possibly a more recent compiler. If they are building from
source, they can build the library from source too.
Such an old system may not be a standard distro. It is likely
that it has been updated many times, but not in an organized
way. Even if it was a standard distro at the beginning you may
not recognize it as such now. Besides, nobody in their right
mind would want to keep track of all 200 distros.
(Other stuff deleted...)
Think about that in the context of this discussion Al. I think every one
of your assumptions above is suspect from the point of view of a nominal
"user" who doesn't know how, have a desire for, or even is allowed to
upgrade a library or a compiler! I've compiled GCC a couple times in my
life - it isn't the usual type of thing a "user" who has an account on a
machine at work does.
For that matter - even compiling software is a highly dubious model for
distribution to the "masses." For goodness-sake, one of the BIG
differentiators between the different distributions is HOW they
distribute! Their package manager is one of the areas of innovation
that differentiates distributions. Look at "Lindows" (or whatever
they're called this week..) They're ENTIRE novelty is the fact that
they give you a base set of software then charge you a subscription fee
to easily install other software out of their applications vault.
Now for my own two cents worth. I'm not a "casual" user. I've been
around Linux since 1992. I can't tell you how many times I've been in
"Library Hell" when trying to get something new running. One of the
HUGE culprits has consistantly been the gtk libraries and config files,
and the applications configure scripts not finding the "latest" version
I installed/compiled/whatever.
With that said - I'm going to TRY and suggest a point of view that might
help when trying to solve these issues. (I suspect this is going to be
antithetical too ;-) Anything that provides a COMPLETE package where
you get everything with one down load, and you just do ./configure,
make, make install is the world to aim for. You take a snap shot of ALL
the libraries used by your application - and you don't change them -
EVER. They are all included with the distribution of your software and
you build on it. Finally - you statically link everything. This way
it's completely stand-alone.
Now I realize this means that you get to take a snapshot of all the bugs
too! But then, every new release of software of any sort comes with
it's own fixes and bugs doesn't it.
That's my two cents worth.
Steve Wilson
