[rescue] Linux/Sparc

[Steve Sandau]

Yeah, yeah, that's all well and good, but how's the package management?

;)

David Cantrell wrote:
> 
> linc <linc at thelinuxlink.net> wrote:
> 
> > Just curious here, but if you were to install Linux on a sparcstation,
> > what would be your Distro preference and why?
> 
> I used to run Redhat 6.0 on my SS2, heavily patched and upgraded.  It's
> very easy to set up and it does just work straight off the CD.  However,
> after a good couple of years of running Redhat both on x86 and Sparc, I
> came to the conclusion that it's not really suitable for my use.  Not
> because of any security concerns - I can easily fix those - but because
> the package management isn't that good.  Now, I use Debian almost
> exclusively.  When my SS2 died, I replaced it with a Sparcbook 3GX
> running Debian-stable.  I use a *few* packages from Debian-testing as
> well for things I absolutely *must* have, like support for ssh2.
> 
> I'll grant that Debian-stable does tend to lag behind other mainstream
> distros in terms of what's supported, but the package management *works*
> and apt-get is a wonderful tool - I tell it to install package Foo and
> it figures out what else I need, and offers to download all the
> dependencies for me.  Redhat doesn't do that, and it's a pain in the bum.
> 
> Oh, the other distro I use, on one box (I run Debian on four boxen) is
> a fairly heavily customised Slackware.
> 
> > My particular preference is RedHat - but that's only really beacuse that's
> > the distro I am most familiar with.  I am thinking of trying some others
> > and wanted to see what you all had to say on the subject...
> 
> I strongly recommend Debian.  The package management is gorgeous.  And
> unlike Redhat, it supports a whole bunch of platforms (Redhat seem to
> have dropped Sparc altogether) and at least the Sparc distribution is
> kept pretty much in sync with the x86 distro.
> 
> Did I tell you I *really* like the package management? :-)
> 
> --
> David Cantrell | david at cantrell.org.uk | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david
> 
>     Considering the number of wheels Microsoft has found reason
>     to invent, one never ceases to be baffled by the minuscule
>     number whose shape even vaguely resembles a circle.
>                                                       -- anon, on Usenet
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-- 
Steve Sandau, IS Technician
TMA Bath, Maine
ssandau at bath.tmac.com