[SGVLUG] RPM hell -- why not just change to debian?

[Emerson, Tom]

> -----Original Message-----
> Behalf Of Mike Fedyk
> Emerson, Tom wrote:

> > Some cases-in-point
> >
> >   -- earlier releases of SuSE installed "locate" as part of
> >      the "default" selection, new releases don't [...]
> >   
> Debian based distros handle this well.  They have a replaces: 
> field so 
> that when you upgrade the new package is installed, and the old is 
> removed.

That's fine, execpt there was no package to replace "locate" --
they simply stopped installing it as "part of a typical install".
This is, of course, a particularly obtuse case -- "locate", by
it's very nature, is similar to microsoft's "fast find" feature
(pre-indexing files for fast searches) and unless you keep your
system "on" 24x7, you are likely to run into a performance-sapping
"scan" shortly after you start up [same as with windows...] so
I can understand and appreciate why it might not be included
"by default" anymore.  I happen to like the "locate" command,
and as I generally keep my systems running all the time, I don't
run into problems with this [though perhaps I should rework this
a bit for my laptop as that system tends to be "off" more than it
is "on" nowadays...]

> My second install from back in 1999 is still 
> running today and 
> it has been upgraded from Hamm (2.0) to Slink (2.1) to Woody (3.0) to 
> Sarge (3.1).  This install has survived all hardware it has been on, 
> including changing hard drives, and the entire system surrounding it.

I haven't been as bold with "updates" -- I think most of the time
I've simply done a full install and manually select packages I
think I'd like to see or use [and as I mentioned earlier, forget
that I was going to try them out...]  I think I've done an "upgrade"
once, and instead of marking the system as "SuSE 8.0", it changed
my 7.x system to "7.99" :)

> >   -- the 10.0 release does NOT have the courier-* packages [...]
> >   
> I'd suggest you check the community repositories for Suse 10. 

I found it easily enough -- it was just "surprising" to see that
it simply wasn't there when it had been included for several realeases
by now.  In just about any other circumstance I wouldn't have noticed
because it is only for this -particular- installation I that I needed
the Courier-imap package.