"Labitt, Bruce" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > What is the advantage of a debian based distro compared to > rpm based? (Did I say that? Keep it civil. )
Really? Nothing. Linux is Linux is Linux and Unix is Unix is Unix and Linux is Solaris is BSD is HP-UX is AI^H^H (oops, almost got carried away there :) The biggest differences boil down to: - The packaging system and associated tools (they all suck in their own way) - The location/formats of config files (they all suck in their own way) - Choice of SysVinit vs. BSD's rc.local (they both suck in their own way) When it comes to Linux distros, really, what's to be different? All of them use the same kernel, so it's not like moving between Solaris and AIX where you're moving between completely different OSes. They all use the same software, so it's not like what you run on one you can't get or run on another. It boils down to configuration, packaging, and system administration. Which, at a high level, is really the only difference between all other variants of UNIX. The same commands work across the board: ls, cd, rm, tr, sed, awk, etc. As for windowing environments, you can run whatever you want on any of them, right? I've been the using same exact desktop for 15+ years, first under twm, then ctwm, then (and now) fvwm. If you're a GNOME or KDE fan, you can still use both of those monstrosities under any of the Linux distros too. IMO, the biggest difference between a RH-based and Debian-based system is the packaging and tools and the basic sysadmin configuration: RH Debian ---- ------ rpm dpkg* yum apt* chkconfig update-rc.d /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/if* /etc/network/interfaces /etc/xinetd.* /etc/inetd.conf Those right there are the major differences I can think of. The most obvious ones being the packaging tool sets. I haven't played with a RPM-based system in nearly 8 years since I switched to Debian (I haven't even played with other Debian-based systems yet, I haven't seen the need or had the time). The thing I liked initially about Debian was the ability to install once and upgrade forever. I assume that rpm with yum has this capability by now as well, but Debian had this with apt long before yum existed. My system at home is a 9 year-old PIII which had Debian installed on it 6 years ago and I've never re-installed anything, yet I'm "up-to-date" with whatever I'm running on it thanks to 'apt-get dist-upgrade'. So, take that for what it's worth. If you're simply concerned about moving between different distros of Linux, that's about all the difference right there. If you're concerned about moving to other versions of UNIX, I highly recommend checking out the BSDs. I find OpenBSD with it's superior networking code makes a much nicer boot-loader for Emacs than does Linux... :) -- Seeya, Paul _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
