Why do you need version 8.2? Debian unstable and testing both come with
version 8.2.
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Aaron Toponce ( ) ASCII Ribbon Campaign
www.aarontoponce.org X www.asciiribbon.org
/ \Brian Hawkins wrote: > I really like Linux. The OS is fast and very stable. There is one little > aspect of Linux however that I just loath. This little aspect is the way > that software is installed on the computer. > > I had an experience with Postgres that exemplifies the problem. I'm running > FC6 and I needed Postgres 8.2 for some testing I was doing. The YUM > repository only lets me install 8.1. Frustrated I downloaded the RPM from > Postgres and tried to install it that way. The package manager told me > there was a conflict with an older client library on my system. I tried to > remove the older library only to find it was tied to a dozen or so programs > including SVN - which I really cannot do without. Needless to say I was > thwarted at every turn. > > I know I could have overridden the dependency checks or I could have > upgraded my OS. Now there is an option - "What are you doing tonight?", "Oh > I'm upgrading my OS how about you?". Oh sounds like a hot date night to me. > > Maybe having a little software commune on their computer is appealing to > some but I hate it. On a server I can understand why you would put all of > your binary files under one directory. You can mount it read only for > security but, does anyone do that anymore? Besides my desktop is not > running as a production server. > > OK I've ranted long enough, here is my solution. Change the package manager > to install everything under one directory. For example if I were to install > Postgres on my system it would create a directory /programs/postgres82/ and > put the program there. In the program directory it would create a /usr /var > /bin or whatever it needed for the application to install. The package > manager would also install whatever dependencies it required in the same > location. Think of it as doing a chroot before installing the program and > it's dependencies. I Then change the loader to look in the local program > directory for libraries before it goes to the system wide directories. > > Now I know I may end up with multiple copies of a library but, big deal. I > have half a terrabyte of space on my computer, it can handle it. This > solution would let me install multiple copies of an application as well as > multiple versions of the same application. I could also just update one > application without the need to upgrade my OS. > > I once saw a scholarly paper written to try and solve the dependency > problems that persist in Linux distributions. You know if the problem is > that complex maybe the solution is not to solve the problem but get rid of > it. > > So what is every ones opinion of this? > > Brian > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */
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/* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
