From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 7 18:48:29 2012 Return-Path: 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 4AF051065672 for ; Wed, 7 Mar 2012 18:48:29 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from andrewlylegould@gmail.com) Received: from mail-vw0-f54.google.com (mail-vw0-f54.google.com [209.85.212.54]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9462B8FC21 for ; Wed, 7 Mar 2012 18:48:28 +0000 (UTC) Received: by vbmv11 with SMTP id v11so7179994vbm.13 for ; Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:48:22 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type; bh=1mFGfH/Vy7XdooKaL+/66RLWw3owEKsmrhMeRloW2ek=; b=YFYd/otLJU5oXIaREyTMaxn58EcicVeQckG9CzSdmJS68BZ8dDeRpiUct5nH0W82F4 IwC67L2iW6hR8/Q7y3iDWZ2vaLe5RgWstLuQOb6YaZdGDKAjz+6aL49uSJz426L5TMl1 JXxu705Im7s+NFDRItTOhEbVW9n5c1qtr/7pvMUlSMK8BqitV0jEjzhRLkMUG1y58q14 DNvMNKvbNvsQoNTSMNBtSzukbAYTwvCHgNemiQBTnqB3Hh0HcaSO8xCwlbfN0LQklJAN 3Fx/L6aHOjPlTUDcIGdrJsvjcBp2Jstx3QsPeji69s9qoh7BFhJg/8Z4YLGDuSE+O5XN 9zGQ== MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.52.180.7 with SMTP id dk7mr4986152vdc.25.1331146102668; Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:48:22 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.220.175.133 with HTTP; Wed, 7 Mar 2012 10:48:22 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: <20120307175852.7de93d6f.freebsd@edvax.de> Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 12:48:22 -0600 Message-ID: From: Andrew Gould To: David Jackson Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Cc: Polytropon , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Still having trouble with package upgrades 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: Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:48:29 -0000 On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 11:42 AM, David Jackson wrote: > On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 11:58 AM, Polytropon wrote: > >> David, allow me to add a few thoughts: >> >> On Wed, 7 Mar 2012 11:28:47 -0500, David Jackson wrote: >> > As for compile options, the solution is simple, compile in all feature >> > options and the most commonly used settings into the binary packages, for >> > the standard i386 CPU. >> >> I think this can develop into a major problem in certain >> countries where listening to MP3 is illegal. :-) >> >> > You are talking about the codec. > > What Ubuntu seems to do is distribute these codecs as a seperate nonfree > addon package which are then loaded by applications at run time. You see, > options do not necessarily have to be compiled into programs, they can be > loaded at libraries and then loaded by programs at run time if they are > available. > > This is also a rare circumstance, and there are workaround as above. > > >> >> > If people want customisations then they can build >> > the software for themselves. >> >> That's what they'll do anyway. :-) >> >> > No, usually they do not. Few people except for hard core geeks want to mess > around with compile options. most will use runtime configuration through a > GUI which is faster. This is irrelevant. FreeBSD has these options because most of its users are system administrators, developers or other types of geeks. Serving these needs is a major part of what FreeBSD does. That's why we have the long standing motto: "FreeBSD - The power to serve". People who don't want these things, and insist on fool-proof upgrades will probably be happier running Windows, Mac OS X or some distribution of Linux. I've been around email lists long enough to know that every operating system (MS Windows, Linux, etc) occasionally has its update nightmares. My advice to you is: 1. Define your needs. 2. Choose the best software to meet your needs. 3. Choose the best operating system to run the software. 4. Choose the best hardware to run the operating system. If you've performed these steps out of order, you're unlikely to be happy. Andrew