> > On 2/12/07, Chris Schumann <cschumann at twp-llc.com> wrote: > >>> Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 00:28:51 -0600 >>> From: "T.J. Duchene" <tj at kewlness.net> >>> >>> The "non-free" tree is Debian's answer to the closed source, >>> patented or >>> proprietary world. Fedora Core, for example, makes you recompile >>> everything if you want to use NTFS to read your Windows >>> drives. >>> >> As a Fedora user, I believe that's not the whole truth. >> >> Like Debian, Fedora is serious about closed source. Fortunately, there is >> a >> large community of Fedora users to fill this obvious gap. ATRpms and Livna >> are two well-respected repositories you can use to install most drivers >> and >> other packages. Currently, I'm using ATRpms for madwifi on some laptops, >> and >> Livna for mplayer and xine. >> >> Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had to compile anything on Fedora >> Core >> unless I want to actually do software development, or use some very new >> software. >> >> Chris >> >> In all fairness, you are quite correct, Chris. I stand corrected, and will clarify. The default Fedora kernel has NTFS disabled by default. In order to get it working, it requires replacement, installation of the ntfs module, or complete recompilation. My only real discontent with third party RPMs is that they don't always meet the QA standards of the Core distribution. Debian's "non-free" archive tends to meet the same QA and dependency standards as the "main" tree, and so integrates a bit better. On the other hand, I hear that Fedora Core and Fedora Extras will be merged in the next release, so it may alleviate a lot of problems. I just wish that Livna and other archives followed the dependency chains a bit better so that you could use packages from any of the repositories you choose equally. -- T.J. ==================================================== "I believe C++ instills fear in programmers, fear that the interaction of some details causes unpredictable results. Its unmanageable complexity has spawned more fear-preventing tools than any other language, but the solution _should_ have been to create and use a language that does not overload the whole goddamn human brain with irrelevant details." -- Erik Naggum -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: tj.vcf Type: text/x-vcard Size: 117 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mailman.mn-linux.org/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20070212/1f37c571/attachment-0001.vcf