Re:Why is this exciting?
by
Chuck+Milam
·
· Score: 5
If I want to upgrade something on my system, I download the source, compile it and install (I hate RPM's). Why wait several months to install all the fixes in one go, when you could have fixed them many weeks before?
Because not everyone is running a single-user system with the time to waste in the "search, download, tweak, compile, repeat" process. Those of us who use Linux as a tool (not a toy) enjoy the idea of being able to drop in a CD and have a relatively up-to-date system without the hassle of having to do it by hand. In a university environment, where good help is almost impossible to find, CD distros and RPMS are a life-saver:
It's a lot easier for me to say to a student assistant: "Upgrade the gcc RPMs on the Computer Science cluster" rather than "Download the GCC tarball, and compile it? What's that? Configure options? Here...do this. Hmm--dependecy problems. Ok, you fix it this way... Another question? Ok, here, I'll just have to do it myself, since we needed this done last week."
Also, RPMs are great for ansering the "what the heck is that file doing there?" question.
When I only had my home Linux box to play with, I used to be a "source tarball, compile your own is the only way!" guy. Then I started using Linux at work. There's a big difference when you have to manage multiple machines and users. Suddenly, RPMs don't seem so bad at all...
Frankly I'm a little sick and tired of some of the people that have just started using Linux, Ya, I know I should be kind and helpful and all that, and I will be helpful and kind, I'm ready to answer any questions I can, to help somebody get a solid understanding of linux and how it works, etc, etc, etc, etc, to my point...
There seems to be a group of you, and I think I know who you are... You've been using Linux for about a year, maybe eighteen months... You probably dual boot or have a Lose98 machine handy.. You pretend to know a lot about linux , You talk a lot when it comes to linux and boast how great it is, how it can do everything and anything, Well except for StarCraft and Quicken... and then you go on to bash RedHat, you know all the profane variations of the Redhat name (redhate, deadrat, rudehat, etc, probbaly another 80 or 90 that I dont know aobut yet).. you continually blast it for being Insecure, full of bugs, unstable, etc etc etc etc, stop repeating what other people say, think for yourself for once...
Let me tell you knuckleheads something, before you go Bashing RedHat, and its a very good distro, yes, even Linus Torvalds uses Redhat (wow, he must be some Lamer dude eh ? ) the Security issue, Okay, two things here, I'll grant you the latitude to bash redhat for their default inetd.conf configuration (its a bit Strange).. But you've got to learn to tidy those things up, if you dont, You aren't worthy to administer a Linux box, Sorry guys thats the way it is. 2nd thing with security, RedHat has probably the best support when it comes to bug/exploit fixes for their rpms, just check their errata page every week to see if something new has popped up (or get on the mailing list, it'll send you mail when a Security Alert has been issued)...
ya, okay, then you go ahead and say "HEY LOOK AT ALL THOSE BUG FIXES ON REDHATS ERRATA, THEIR DISTRO MUST BE FULL OF BUGS AND EXPLOITS !!!!!" I've heard crap very similar to this many times.. Okay you knuckleheads, First of all, when somebody discovers a bufferoverflow in SSH or whatever package you can think up, MANY MANY TIMES it is not distro specific, in english, that means IT AFFECTS ALL Distributions, "OH MY GAWD, DEBIAN IS TAINTED !!! BUT ITS THE PERFECT DISTRO !!! ONLY REAL HACKERS USE DEBIAN!!!!!" (Debian is a great distro, good work you guys, not trying to put you down or anything here)..
Oh, I almost forgot Redhat is the next Microsoft of Linux, how many times have I heard that from you schmucks lately , ohh, lots. I dont have to sit here and prove that it cant happen, I'll be wasting my time, because I know it cant.
The Linux community has Benefitted and profitted so much from Redhat, You just dont know it, 90% of the people that fit into that (1 year to 18 month) range JUST DONT KNOW what they've done, and you guys keep repeating the bullshit your script kiddy friends say.... your all pissing me off.. There is a lot of good info for you guys that is available on the web, even here on slashdot regarding the last 6 or 7 years of Linux History, I SUGGEST YOU ALL GO READ IT AND LEARN. Dont be afraid of the commmandline, I know you guys are scared of that thing, its easy as pie , type ls , rm ~/.netscape/cookies , vi/etc/inetd.conf.. wow, hard eh..
Either grow up and learn to accept their will be bugs and weird things happening in the first major release of a distro or the alternative is, You better be holding your precious SuSe/debian/mandrake/corel/ distro the same ugly standard as you do redhat when they make a first release.
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If I want to upgrade something on my system, I download the source, compile it and install (I hate RPM's). Why wait several months to install all the fixes in one go, when you could have fixed them many weeks before?
Because not everyone is running a single-user system with the time to waste in the "search, download, tweak, compile, repeat" process. Those of us who use Linux as a tool (not a toy) enjoy the idea of being able to drop in a CD and have a relatively up-to-date system without the hassle of having to do it by hand. In a university environment, where good help is almost impossible to find, CD distros and RPMS are a life-saver:
It's a lot easier for me to say to a student assistant: "Upgrade the gcc RPMs on the Computer Science cluster" rather than "Download the GCC tarball, and compile it? What's that? Configure options? Here...do this. Hmm--dependecy problems. Ok, you fix it this way... Another question? Ok, here, I'll just have to do it myself, since we needed this done last week."
Also, RPMs are great for ansering the "what the heck is that file doing there?" question.
When I only had my home Linux box to play with, I used to be a "source tarball, compile your own is the only way!" guy. Then I started using Linux at work. There's a big difference when you have to manage multiple machines and users. Suddenly, RPMs don't seem so bad at all...
Frankly I'm a little sick and tired of some of the people that have just started using Linux, Ya, I know I should be kind and helpful and all that, and I will be helpful and kind, I'm ready to answer any questions I can, to help somebody get a solid understanding of linux and how it works, etc, etc, etc, etc, to my point...
/etc/inetd.conf .. wow, hard eh..
There seems to be a group of you, and I think I know who you are... You've been using Linux for about a year, maybe eighteen months... You probably dual boot or have a Lose98 machine handy.. You pretend to know a lot about linux , You talk a lot when it comes to linux and boast how great it is, how it can do everything and anything, Well except for StarCraft and Quicken... and then you go on to bash RedHat, you know all the profane variations of the Redhat name (redhate, deadrat, rudehat, etc, probbaly another 80 or 90 that I dont know aobut yet).. you continually blast it for being Insecure, full of bugs, unstable, etc etc etc etc, stop repeating what other people say, think for yourself for once...
Let me tell you knuckleheads something, before you go Bashing RedHat, and its a very good distro, yes, even Linus Torvalds uses Redhat (wow, he must be some Lamer dude eh ? ) the Security issue, Okay, two things here, I'll grant you the latitude to bash redhat for their default inetd.conf configuration (its a bit Strange).. But you've got to learn to tidy those things up, if you dont, You aren't worthy to administer a Linux box, Sorry guys thats the way it is. 2nd thing with security, RedHat has probably the best support when it comes to bug/exploit fixes for their rpms, just check their errata page every week to see if something new has popped up (or get on the mailing list, it'll send you mail when a Security Alert has been issued)...
ya, okay, then you go ahead and say "HEY LOOK AT ALL THOSE BUG FIXES ON REDHATS ERRATA, THEIR DISTRO MUST BE FULL OF BUGS AND EXPLOITS !!!!!" I've heard crap very similar to this many times.. Okay you knuckleheads, First of all, when somebody discovers a bufferoverflow in SSH or whatever package you can think up, MANY MANY TIMES it is not distro specific, in english, that means IT AFFECTS ALL Distributions, "OH MY GAWD, DEBIAN IS TAINTED !!! BUT ITS THE PERFECT DISTRO !!! ONLY REAL HACKERS USE DEBIAN!!!!!" (Debian is a great distro, good work you guys, not trying to put you down or anything here)..
Oh, I almost forgot Redhat is the next Microsoft of Linux, how many times have I heard that from you schmucks lately , ohh, lots. I dont have to sit here and prove that it cant happen, I'll be wasting my time, because I know it cant.
The Linux community has Benefitted and profitted so much from Redhat, You just dont know it, 90% of the people that fit into that (1 year to 18 month) range JUST DONT KNOW what they've done, and you guys keep repeating the bullshit your script kiddy friends say.... your all pissing me off.. There is a lot of good info for you guys that is available on the web, even here on slashdot regarding the last 6 or 7 years of Linux History, I SUGGEST YOU ALL GO READ IT AND LEARN. Dont be afraid of the commmandline, I know you guys are scared of that thing, its easy as pie , type ls , rm ~/.netscape/cookies , vi
Either grow up and learn to accept their will be bugs and weird things happening in the first major release of a distro or the alternative is, You better be holding your precious SuSe/debian/mandrake/corel/ distro the same ugly standard as you do redhat when they make a first release.
see ya later you fucken clueless assholes