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rpm + deb vs tar.gz
This discussion about using RPM and/or Debian packages versus building
from scratch from the original source code is really idiotic.
If people really tried to recall what it's like to manage a system
built from lots of individual source code packages, they would recall
that:
1. Lots of source code packages don't build from scratch - they
require lots of Makefile/source code fiddling. Redhat & Debian do
this once for everyone.
2. Some source code packages use all sorts of shell scripts to dump
files all over your hard disk during installation. This makes them
almost impossible to uninstall - you have to traipse around your
hard disk trying to figure out what the hell it copied where. The
RPM & Debian systems keep track of where each file came from so
that you can easily remove packages you don't want. You can also
easily see where each file came from, the associated documentation,
whether or not it's been modified since it was installed, ...
3. Sometimes the source code package will overwrite files from another
package. Redhat & Debian have already tried to make sure that this
isn't the case, and if it is, the packaging tools will warn you
before it happens.
4. Many source code packages don't follow the FSSTD. This makes them
even more of a pain in the ass to compile and install and
uninstall.
5. Many source code packages are almost impossible to build. Redhat
and Debian deal with this for you.
6. Before Redhat & Debian, doing a major system upgrade (kernel+libc, for
example) was a big, big headache. Lots of things would break, all
sorts of packages would have to be reassembled from all over the
net, some packages might have changed their config file formats
since you last built them, ... With Redhat or Debian, you just
wait for the new release, and do "upgrade".
Just the first 6 off the top of my head.
So don't give me this bullshit about how RPM & Debian are the root of
all evil & *real* men install from the original .tar.gz. Redhat &
Debian make system management a *hell* of a lot cleaner and
more tractable. Real men build an RPM from the orignal .tar.gz &
install the RPM so that the file database remains complete.
Next time anyone feels like complaining about RPMs or Debian packages,
I invite them to rebuild their entire system from the original
sources. And when they come back in 6 months, they can tell us about
how wonderful it was. That is... if they ever manage to rebuild a
working libc & gcc...
--
Harvey J. Stein
Berger Financial Research
abel@netvision.net.il