From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Apr 16 09:29:45 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4CAD716A404 for ; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 09:29:45 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from xfb52@dial.pipex.com) Received: from smtp-out2.blueyonder.co.uk (smtp-out2.blueyonder.co.uk [195.188.213.5]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DD55513C4BF for ; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 09:29:44 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from xfb52@dial.pipex.com) Received: from [172.23.170.142] (helo=anti-virus02-09) by smtp-out2.blueyonder.co.uk with smtp (Exim 4.52) id 1HdNWp-0001G0-LB; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:29:43 +0100 Received: from [62.31.10.181] (helo=[192.168.0.2]) by asmtp-out5.blueyonder.co.uk with esmtp (Exim 4.52) id 1HdNWo-0007tI-Nn; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:29:42 +0100 Message-ID: <46234207.5040601@dial.pipex.com> Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:29:43 +0100 From: Alex Zbyslaw User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD i386; en-GB; rv:1.7.13) Gecko/20061205 X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Dag-Erling_Sm=F8rgrav?= References: <2a4057fc0704131021t60249c62k4107ee6cf9f1fb8f@mail.gmail.com> <86mz1ckqlc.fsf@dwp.des.no> <20070413183656.E73976@fledge.watson.org> <86tzvjz2dr.fsf@dwp.des.no> In-Reply-To: <86tzvjz2dr.fsf@dwp.des.no> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" Subject: Re: I like Ubuntu X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 09:29:45 -0000 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