Re: [TCLUG:19211] debian install

[^chewie <chewie@wookimus.net>]

Thomas T. Veldhouse <veldy@veldy.net> [000628 09:11]:
> > Ah - Corel and/or Storm support glibc-2.1.x and the 2.2 kernels -
> > so I don't think they are based upon Debian stable.  I was not
> > advocating those distros - just saying that general public support
> > of Debian will wane with these out there (if they live up to the
> > hipe).

Actually, this is only a marketing issue, not whether there will or
will not be support to Debian.  Did you know that the Corel and Storm
distributions pull packages directly from the Debian archives?  The
only thing unique about Corel and Storm is that they add a few
commercial software packages in the lot.  Guess where they put them?
In dedicated directories that conform to the apt-get tool.  Guess
where they point users for new packages?  Yep, the Debian
distribution.

Corel may be better at providing a full mirror of Debian than Storm
is, as Storm has a line for pulling Debian packages in their default
sources.list.  I'm not 100% about Corel's sources.list.  It's been a
while since I've had a chance to dig into the config on an available
box.

Basically, we're trying to predict what the public will do without
looking at trends.  Why does Debian get new users?   Maybe they hear
that their distribution is based on Debian and they want to hit the
source rather than some watered-down mirror.  Maybe they're actively
searching for the best way to support the use of Free Software (TM),
so they pick the only distribution who's Social Contract states that
very mission.

No, I don't see Debian popularity dropping any time soon.  The real
battle to concentrate on is the packaging systems and the policies for
Quality Control.  Whomever has the best scheme will come out on top.
Of course, the term "best" has some strong capatilistic Darwinisms to
it, but let's hope that the best technology wins rather than the most
popular or the most marketed.  <^chewie places his bet on Debian>

<personal experience>
I was fortunate to have friends who pointed me in the Right Direction
(TM) from the start, the time when I fully committed myself to
learning about Linux.  Sure, I've run RedHat.  I had a copy of 4.2
running for about a year, yet I didn't have the full drive until I saw
how effective the 486X33 Debian firewall I installed (with the help of
my friends) ran at work.  At that point, I was caught hook, line, and
sinker, and I haven't regretted the decision to focus my time and
energy into Debian Linux.
</personal experience>

Yes, I'm a certifiable "gear head."

-- 
Chad "^chewie" Walstrom <chewie@wookimus.net>
        http://wookimus.net/chewie

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