gentoo - wow!! - progress

[Collins]

On Sun, 30 Jun 2002 18:21:20 -0400 dep <dep at linuxandmain.com> wrote:
> begin  Collins's  quote:
> 

> 
> | 4) You are very right.  I haven't been in the linux game longer
> | than a few years.  In that span of time I haven't reached that
> | enlightened state of bliss where I believe that I know the right
> | (and the only permitted) approach for everyone else, and I hope I
> | never reach that state.
> 
> no, but you have reached the "enlightened state of bliss" as that
> term has come to be commonly used, with reference to gentoo.

I happen to like the distro, as I happen also to like Slackware, and
I'm not really fond of Mandrake, SuSE, Caldera, and ELX (all of which
I tried in the past).  I made one attempt at debian and couldn't get
the installer to enable my NIC.  I've never installed Red Hat.  I
speak about what I prefer, and I'm happy to hear that others have
tried it, but I make no pretentions about gentoo being the solution
for everyone.  The only thing blissful about it is the extrem ease of
maintenance.

> i appreciate your lack of understanding of the importance of the
> fhs, even as i wish you  appreciated your lack of understanding of
> the importance of the fhs.

ROTFLMAO.  I'm going to have to tuck that comment away in my list of
all time funnies, although I'm sure you didn't intend it to be
humorous in the least.  I fully appreciate my lack of understanding. 
This smacks of the approach taken by the most virulent of the
protestant sects.  I've read the scripture (fhs), and I've reached a
special understanding with God (the master of the fhs), and as a
result I know how you should be living your life (according to the
fhs).  Just have faith in the fhs, boy, and you, too, can be saved
from the destruction that is to come.

> 
> | 6) Put your money where your mouth is.  If Slackware or gentoo (or
> | pick any non-commercial distro) has flaws that you would like to
> | see corrected, come down out of your ivory tower, put up the
> | distro, work with it, learn its pluses and minuses, join the
> | developer mailing list, discuss the supposed flaws with the
> | developers, and be a creative part of producing something better. 
> | Sitting on the sidelines and carping doesn't cut it, IMO.  When
> | you've put your blood, sweat, and tears into the fight and you
> have| an fhs-pure distro, let us know.
> 
> c'mon. what a crock. yammering "gentoo" over and over to the extent 
> that the list is diminished because members heard that particular 
> mantra until they hanged themselves is not contributing to anything.
> 
> your argument above is the equivalent of saying "if you don't like 
> the president, go and start your own country." it is the standard 
> reply of the cornered distributional zealot.

I think you side stepped that one nicely.  The point was to work on a
distro (pick one) and do actual work to understand and (just maybe) to
help improve it rather than taking the imperial approach that it's
beneath your dignity to work with a distro that doesn't embrace every
jot of the fhs.

My argument is the exact equivalent of saying "if you don't like the
president, do something about it."  Go and work with the party of your
choice or form your own party, but don't just sit there and gripe. 
Put up your own candidate or work for a candidate.  You fervently
believe in the fhs, so find an fhs candidate and roll up your sleeves
to help out.

> 
> | 7) When I first encountered the gentoo distro, the slogan "novelty
> | distribution" (as you described it) was definitely appropriate. 
> | Since that time I've watched the product develop into a very
> useful| offering.  The world wide team of developers that are now
> producing| gentoo have no time for finding fault with other distros
> - they're| too busy making their product the best that it can be. 
> If that| best is a "gentoo system that employs linux software," (as
> you| described it), then so be it.  The gentoo motto could be that
> of| the little train that said: "I knew I could ..." over and over
> as| it climbed the hill. You seem to be stuck at "Whatever it is,
> I'm| against it."
> 
> okay. a novelty distribution based on a children's cartoon book.
> that has lots of people working on it. feel better?
> -- 

In actuality, I've never felt better.  

I'm happy with my easy-to-use novelty distribution.  I would be
equally happy to try a Simon-pure fhs distribution, if you can dream
one up (without doing any actual work, as noted above) and if it
provides me all the benefits I get from my current novelty
distribution.  

Slackware is another novelty distribution worthy of consideration, but
it's a little more difficult to maintain.  debian is another possible
novelty distribution (easy to maintain), but I find the debian
preference for ancient software hard to swallow.  Linux from Scratch
is another novelty distribution that has some good points (slavish
adherance to the fhs appears to be one of them).

I remain an unconverted sinner who enjoys linux in all its flavors,
but who prefers ease of installation, ease of maintenance, and
stability above all else.

Please, dep, I want to be the first to know when you've actually found
a distro that meets your exacting requirements.  I'll certainly give
it a spin.

-- 
Collins Richey - Denver Area - WWTLRD?
gentoo(since 01/01/01) 2.4.18+(ext3) xfce-sylpheed-mozilla