Eric Richardson wrote: > As in the previous thread -- Why choose Debian? -- it seems the > packaging, updating system and stability are major plus points. What is > the long term forecast for package managers and the LSB? Hope this > hasn't been covered.
one good reason to choose debian is it will be around no matter what the commercial markets look like. although unlikely it is possible that redhat caldera, suse, turbolinux may collapse in time due to lack of funding(it would be VERY unlikely for them all to go but still the chance is there) whereas debian there is no chance since it is non profit. they don't rely on sales to keep the distribution going or investments from companies/VCs. that's not really the reason i use it though. i use it because it's stable(yes i do not use the testing or unstable trees) and package management is better. the downsides to it are that some commercial apps won't work on debian(iPlanet stuff comes to mind..) and they don't support past releases(e.g. debian 2.1 support was dropped almost immediately after 2.2 came out). whereas redhat/suse/turbo etc support releases going back several years in most cases. the term 'it ain't broke so why fixit' is very popular in the unix world, IMO it doesn't apply really in debian's case because you either have to upgrade, or compile your own updates for critical packages, or live with the fact that as time goes on your system may be less and less secure(not a good thought to me). nate -- ::: ICQ: 75132336 http://www.aphroland.org/ http://www.linuxpowered.net/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
