[EMAIL PROTECTED]: > > I am wondering about the best way to install software. I have used > the "apt-get" method, which is pretty simple, and have also downloaded > and compiled from source "tarballs" which is a little more complicated > but doesn't seem to be a big deal. Are there significant advantages > and disadvantages to these methods, besides just convenience?
With self-compiled software, you have to take care of everything
yourself: dependencies, updates (including security relevant updates!)
and deinstallation. This is not bad per se, but can be a lot of work and
a little bit frustrating. Additionally, there may be some work to do to
get individual software packages work together seamlessly.
On the other hand, by doing it all yourself you may learn a lot of stuff
you would never even encounter if you only installed precompiled Debian
packages. And you have more freedom about the options you'd like to
compile into your software.
> I worry about dependencies, and maybe messing stuff up with "apt-get
> update."
If you remember to put self-compiled packages into directories like
/usr/local, apt will never interfere with these programs. But apt will
never know about them either, so if you have a self-compiled program
which is needed by a Debian package you are about to install, apt will
install the necessary Debian package as a dependency. That means that
you may end up with the same program or library twice on your system.
This doesn't necessarily lead to problems, but you'll generally want to
avoid that.
To keep your system stable and tidy, you should generally prefer to
install the Debian package of a specific program. This way you can
easily keep your whole system up to date and you can remove programs
without a trace, if you wish so. Messing your system up with apt-get (or
aptitude, which is the recommended package manager nowadays) is a lot
harder than by installing software yourself.
If you'd like to do more tasks by hand, you may want to take a look at
other distributions. Gentoo, for example, offers mainly source packages
which you have to compile yourself.
J.
--
When I am at nightclubs I enjoy looking at other people and assessing
their imagined problems.
[Agree] [Disagree]
<http://www.slowlydownward.com/NODATA/data_enter2.html>
signature.asc
Description: Digital signature
