[No Troll Plz ] Re: the 'which distro' question

[Collins Richey]

On 3/3/07, Alma J Wetzker <almaw at ieee.org> wrote:
> Ric Moore wrote:
> > On Fri, 2007-03-02 at 09:19 -0600, C M Reinehr wrote:
> >
> >> 2) If you won't face the constant need to upgrade or reinstall that you would
> >> with Fedora Core.
> >
> > How so? When the upstream package provider releases a new version, and
> > they'll have reasons for doing so,  everyone downstream would also
> > update, unless the distro doesn't get to it immediately... I would see
> > that as a drawback, not a plus. If one wishes to keep compiler and major
> > kernel releases current, it may take a entire install to avoid a host of
> > little naggling issues. So, I just backup the directories that have my
> > custom stuff, then re-install which only takes a couple of hours, fire
> > it up and restore. Piece O cake. Each time it's always been a major
> > improvement. The guys at RH/FC are at the top of the game, have a ton of
> > experience, and for that I trust them. I have not been failed yet. Ric
>
> I am starting to see a disconnect between a user POV and a system admin
> POV.  The user just wants things to work, dammit!  The sysadmin wants
> everything to be up to date and tight as a drum.  Both viewpoints are
> valid.  It depends on how you are intending to use your box.  My servers
> are updated weekly, my main desktop is updated weakly.  Why should I
> need to do things differently?
>

I'm middle of the road, here. I much prefer the continuous-update
approach (debian testing and gentoo, for good examples) over the
every-n-months reinstall approach (Fedora, Ubuntu, and a cast of
thousands), but I love the polish of Ubuntu. If only the
every-n-months bunch would provide a rock-solid upgrade path, we could
have the best of both worlds. Actually they usually do provide the
upgrade path, but you get to keep both halves when it falls over.

-- 
Collins Richey
     If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries
     of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.