"Rajiv Gunja" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 2. Better update and product/software installation control. i.e. > pkg-get integrated into the OS well enough to be able to see the > new/sunfree software from pkginfo. Or at least get a package > manager similar to apt-get/pkg-get/yum.
Of all the areas where Sun has an opportunity to improve on Linux distributions this has to be the most significant. Anyone who has used a source distribution model, like FreeBSD's ports, knows what a relative hassle it is to manage pkg, dpkg, and rpms packages. Maintaining a port is so much easier than maintaining an RPM. I'm talking night and day. With ports you don't have to generate a distinct specfile or build a separate binary package for every OS version (multiplied by) every architecture. All you need is the makefile and a few patches. When a new release comes out most of the time all you need change is the makefile's version numbers (assuming patches still apply cleanly, and most of the time they do). Another big advantage to BSD-style ports is that you don't have to compile-in every dependency a package user is likely to use. These can all be resolved, by command line or menu, at install-time. The result is 1) a significantly smaller number of installed packages with the same functionality, 2) up to date versions of all software and all dependencies, and 3) a far more stable and secure environment. None of this need have any impact on the end-user experience. The same management tools can work with either source or binary (for proprietary software) packages. As far as front-end models, my vote goes to aptitude/synaptic though yum/yumex is almost as good. Even with Sun's proven ability to provide support (SunSolve), and superior kernel architecture (mach), nothing has more potential to take market share from other Unix/Linux distributions, in my experience, than source-based package management. -- Roger Marquis Roble Systems Consulting http://www.roble.com/ _______________________________________________ indiana-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/indiana-discuss
