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

[T. Joseph CARTER]

On Sat, Jan 15, 2005 at 04:05:34PM -0800, Eric Altendorf wrote:
> 5) Too many options, different software packages, incompatibilities, 
> versions, version release schedules thereof, different tools for 
> accomplishing the same task

This, definitely.

It's possible for a coordinated team to get a system just right and
internally consistent.  It probably isn't the system you want, however,
which is why source dists are so appealing--you are the majority factor of
the coordinating team, in theory.  (In fact, this requires you have time
and programming skills, and that the source dist developers are testing
the common options people will use.  That rarely happens.)

Still, MacOS X, Solaris (on Sun hardware), and IRIX are good examples of
internally consistent systems that Just Work for their intended purpose
with the default setup.  The closest Linux gets to that are the things
like Knoppix, assuming your hardware is reasonably predictable.


I'm liking Ubuntu so far, but it shows some niggles.  Nothing a former
Debian developer can't handle.