Subject: Re: Installing on an 4 MB A5000

From: David <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 13:27:10 +0100 (BST)

> > If you happen to have "rpm" in your path.  Which I'm fairly sure I don't.
> > I know *exactly* where to find and how to use tar, though.
> 
> I'm sorry, what is your point?  If you have a redhat setup then it is
> significantly easier to maintain and manage than a slackware setup.
> How many slackware-based machines do you manage?  Looking after more
> than 2 is a real hassle.

My point is: I don't really care what the name of the distribution is.  I
like to know what's going onto my system.  I don't have ARMLinux - it
won't support my hardware.  All I know is that if I wish to examine,
and/or use the contents of part of distribution, then I know with
absolute certainty (without even thinking about it) how to extract a .tgz
and how to control which directory it goes in and so on and that I can
trivially create them on any UNIX system.

I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with any particular
distribution or install system.  What I am saying is that a particular
benefit of .tgzs is that it is *obvious* what you can do with it.  

I might also suggest that the system used by NetBSD, IMHO: (a) couldn't be
easier (b) quite definitely uses .tar.gzs.  (And we note, doesn't require
a boot floppy of any sort, although it probably won't work as a solution
to the 4Mb problem.) 

David.

PS - Please can we start a comp.dist.tar.advocacy newsgroup??   ;-)

---

From: Matthew Wilcox <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 13:43:30 +0100 (BST)

David
> trivially create them on any UNIX system.

rpm is available in source form.  I believe it compiles on NetBSD for one.
You know what's in the rpm because there's an option to rpm to tell you.
Even better, it has a description, and a pgp signature from the author.
But all this is missing your fundamentally wrong assumption which is that
a distribution is prepared in order for you to be able to pick it apart
and use it on an alien system.

> benefit of .tgzs is that it is *obvious* what you can do with it.  

And I'm saying this is not an advantage.

> PS - Please can we start a comp.dist.tar.advocacy newsgroup??   ;-)

This discussion should certainly not be happening on linux-arm.  Maybe
one of the linux advocacy groups would be better.

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