Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:29:43 +0100 From: Alex Zbyslaw <xfb52@dial.pipex.com> To: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Dag-Erling_Sm=F8rgrav?= <des@des.no> Cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: I like Ubuntu Message-ID: <46234207.5040601@dial.pipex.com> In-Reply-To: <86tzvjz2dr.fsf@dwp.des.no> References: <2a4057fc0704131021t60249c62k4107ee6cf9f1fb8f@mail.gmail.com> <86mz1ckqlc.fsf@dwp.des.no> <20070413183656.E73976@fledge.watson.org> <86tzvjz2dr.fsf@dwp.des.no>
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Dag-Erling Sm=F8rgrav wrote: >doug@safeport.com writes: > =20 > >>First my experience with [Free]BSD as a server completely mirrors >>Dag-Erling's observation, it [mostly] just works. I started with BSDI >>switching to FreeBSD around 3.5. I think it is also true that >>depending on your hardware a FreeBSD workstation or laptop can be a >>bit of a challenge. >> =20 >> > >My issues with FreeBSD as a desktop mostly come from the difficulty of >installing software and keeping it up-to-date: 'pkg_add -r' and >'portupgrade -aP' simply can't hold a candle to 'apt-get install' and >'apt-get dist-upgrade'. > =20 > How does apt-get compare to something like yum/up2date on FC/RHEL? I.e. = is there something that makes apt-get better? My main issue with all the RedHat OSes is that you are effectively stuck = with whatever version of packages was "combined" to make a particular=20 release. So if the machine you have came with say postfix 2.0, your=20 stuck with that for the lifetime of the OS. If you suddenly have a need = for 2.2, you can try using src rpms, but somehow they never seem to be=20 available for your particular OS version, and whether the ones for a=20 later OS version compile or not is hit-and-miss. Sure, it's dead easy=20 to yum update say postfix 2.0 to postfix 2.0+some security fix, but=20 that's just not enough for me. I resent having to upgrade the OS to get up-to-date packages that have=20 no specific relationship to anything I understand as the OS. That's=20 especially a problem for ISP-rented servers, where upgrading the OS is a = matter of having to get a new server, or taking your life in your hands=20 and trying a "yum" update of the OS. But even for a "desktop", it's=20 just far more work than I believe should be required. FreeBSD ports/packages are not perfect, but at least I can update=20 third-party software without upgrading the OS. --Alex
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