Asad Quraishi wrote:
> I want to adopt a platform that I know. I know Red Hat, where the files
> are located etc. I don't know Debian. The reassurance I have with RH
> (or Suse for ex.) is that they have already standardized their distro
> and therefore the OS is not in motion - I can expect everything to be
> tomorrow where it is today. We are writing applications for commercial
I don't want to destroy your feelings, but how often did you "upgrade"
either of these distributions and how many changes did you notice?
In fact, Debian only releases quite seldom (fortunately or unfortunately,
that's up to the reader) and dist-upgrading is always one high
priority goal that's normally fulfilled.
Compare these release dates:
/* Debian releases */
Oct 26 Debian GNU/Linux 0.93R6 released, 1995
Jun 17 Debian GNU/Linux 1.1 alias ``buzz'' released, 1996
Dec 12 Debian GNU/Linux 1.2 alias ``rex'' released, 1996
Jun 5 Debian GNU/Linux 1.3 alias ``bo'' released, 1997
Jul 24 Debian GNU/Linux 2.0 alias ``hamm'' released, 1998
Mar 9 Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 alias ``slink'' released, 1999
Aug 15 Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 alias ``potato'' relased, 2000
Jul 19 Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 alias ``woody'' released, 2002
Personally, if I need a stable platform that stays the way it is today
for a long time, I'd chose Debian stable. If I need a fluctuating
target and bleeding edge software, I'd chose Debian unstable. However,
I have to admit that I'm a bit biased since I joined Debian a couple
of years ago.
> sale on Linux. I want our app to install and run in a consistent way.
> Since Debian isn't LSB I don't know what the differences are and don't
> have time to learn them.
In that case, you'll have to chose anyway. If your customers use RH,
provide .rpm files for RH, if your customers use SuSE, provide proper
rpm files for that distro - and if your customers run Debian and want
your app to run there as well, provide .deb files as well.
> Can you offer suggestions?
Write Free Software and let Debian do the integration in the Debian OS.
That's how other (even large) software is integrated into Debian, RedHat,
SuSE, Mandrake, Slackware, or any other distribution of GNU/Linux.
Regards,
Joey
--
If nothing changes, everything will remain the same. -- Barne's Law
