____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Friday 07 September 2007 16:02 : \____
> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
> <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote
> on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:21:54 +0100
> <1410018.fN9kTnBP0q@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>> ____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Thursday 06 September 2007 17:06 : \____
>>
>>> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
>>> <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> wrote
>>> on Thu, 06 Sep 2007 01:39:12 +0100
>>> <1425593.I5jnop91Bc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>>> ____/ The Ghost In The Machine on Wednesday 05 September 2007 16:41 :
>>>> \____
>>>>
>>>>> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Schestowitz
>>>>> <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>> wrote
>>>>> on Wed, 05 Sep 2007 04:50:02 +0100
>>>>> <9601132.YlorqA9QdY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>>
>>> [snippage]
>>>
>>>>>> Linux distributions and their pertinent packages are
>>>>>> updated very regularly. Owing to modularity, unlike
>>>>>> Windows, packagers do not require *years* for testing
>>>>>> (Vista took about 1 years) and then 2-3 years to iron
>>>>>> out the bugs in the final release (RTM -> SP[1-3]).
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> There is a flip side; Gentoo is subject to occasional
>>>>> disruptions if someone upstream makes a major change.
>>>>> The biggest one in recent memory is the xorg refactoring;
>>>>> that was mildly painful, but ultimately beneficial.
>>>>> KDE has also been refactored, though I don't remember how
>>>>> recently. The expat rev is probably giving everyone minor
>>>>> headaches, but on Gentoo a rebuild is easily enough done.
>>>>>
>>>>> Presuambly other distros also had to deal with these
>>>>> issues, in their own ways.
>>>>>
>>>>> There are also possible issues with kernel
>>>>> incompatiabilities, but these are rare, even
>>>>> if one's still on 2.4.
>>>>>
>>>>> Otherwise, yes; the fact that freeware distro packages
>>>>> are easily identifiable tends to make them more easily
>>>>> patchable. Certainly the xorg refactoring is a cakewalk
>>>>> compared to, reportedly, application and driver issues
>>>>> with Vista.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, uh, why would I want to downgrade to Vista again? ;-)
>>>>
>>>> I have been getting the impression that Gentoo is now
>>>> associated with tension and flamewars, but I was pleased
>>>> to see that there are many Gentoo users... off the top
>>>> of my head it would be over 2 million of them (although
>>>> counting is impossible). And that's desktops alone,
>>>> not servers. The Zunbox runs Gentoo and other embedded
>>>> devices also... some devices in places like China hide the
>>>> fact that they use Linux (and probably violate the GPL).
>>>
>>> I wouldn't know regarding china. I'm one of the Gentoo
>>> users; it is a stable, flexible distro. Its main problem
>>> may be ease of setup -- but the Handbook helps in that
>>> regard.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Gentoo is still quite a hero of security (like Debian)
>>>> with quite a strong track record (there was a mild
>>>> setback recently, but only because of proactive
>>>> measures).
>>>>
>>>
>>> Their package database is still being audited, as of this
>>> morning.
>>
>> I hear that Sabayon is loaded with about 7 GB of programs
>> (uncompressed). While it doesn't mean 'Registry bloat'
>> (many installation do not slow Linux down or, if so, it's
>> not a linear function), it means less stability and consistency.
>>
>> Of course, you could also use an apt-get-based distro. I really love being
>> able to fetch any piece of software within 10 seconds by just typing its
>> name. The same goes for removal and updates.
>>
>
> Gentoo: 'emerge mozilla-firefox'
>
> Almost as easy as apt-get.
That's one character less, so Gentoo is quicker (assuming you go get a cup of
coffee shortly after issuing the command, for Gentoo will need to compile).
> The main issue with Gentoo
> is that the local system has to build it. There is a
> porthole package that slaps a GUI on emerge but I've
> not gotten it to work to my satisfaction yet; most of
> the packages indicate "bad/blank digest", for example,
> and for some reason it thinks it should bring up Opera as
> the default browser.
>
> Config issues, I'm certain.
>
> As for "registry bloat"...there is an equivalent in Linux,
> namely, the directory containing all of the config files,
> which may lead to a O(log(N)) search performance issue.
True. Then again, there are other tricks you have to consider here. For
example, in KDE, rather than parsing text files, hashtable or some other
lookup methods (akin to databases) are used for speed. You have to look under
the hood.
> The Gentoo download tree contains quite a bit of
> source in its own right -- I have 2.3 gigabytes in
> /usr/portage/distfiles, and that's not all that complete.
> These include such things as previous versions of course.
--
~~ Best of wishes
One person' diction is another's verbiage
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