[Eug-lug] Re: [linux] F+!*ing Gentoo...

[Bob Miller]

Eric Altendorf wrote:

> Stepping up a level, let me take a poll: why is it that there is no 
> perfect distribution?

Heh, heh. (-:

First of all, a perfect distribution, even for one person's definition
of perfect, is beyond human capability.  Our software systems are so
complex that they far outstrip one person's or even one organization's
ability to know what all the pieces and interactions are.  The best we
can do is find a compromise between features, security, stability, and
unifiedness (absense of things that don't interoperate).

Gentoo's strength is that it's very flexible (three cron
implementations?) very fast moving, and very featureful.  It also runs
on who knows how many platforms.  To get that strength, the Gentoo
developers have designed a process with very few impediments to
getting stuff done.  Any developer may check in ebuilds for any
package, and if any one developer thinks it's stable, he sets the
keyword. (That's my understanding, anyway.)  The minority platforms
are left to catch up as best they can.  The result is that stuff gets
released fast.  But the downside is tht bugs like the two that I found
today are found by end users.  End users are all experienced hackers
because non-hackers give up and go away.

Debian is an example of exactly the opposite process providing exactly
the opposite result.  If pkg X doesn't run on ARM or MIPS, then pkg X
doesn't release.  If the new libc is incompatible with obscure app Y,
then libc is held back until Y is fixed.  If a critical bug is open,
the release is held back.  (again, my understanding, based on hearsay)
Debian only releases twice a decade, but the resulting stable releases
are completely bulletproof.

Other distributions use other policies which produce other results.
But it takes a huge developer community to keep a general-purpose
distro going, so there aren't very many other viable not-for-profit
general purpose distros.  The commercial distros have to pay their
developers, so they're manpower-limited too.

> In short -- why is it my linux machines never ever ever "just work" ?

Because computers are too complicated.  Nobody understands them. (-:

-- 
Bob Miller                              K<bob>
kbobsoft software consulting
http://kbobsoft.com                     kbob at jogger-egg.com