RE: debian vs linuxppc
On Sun, 10 Jan 1999, Shaleh wrote:
> >
> > My main interst in Linux operating system could be justified by the
> > desire to use some of the audio apps available for linux.
> > Hence the first question : how's the sound working on debian (and MIDI
> > if any).
> >
>
> Hope I am not wrong here. Debian (and other Linux dists) use the same Linux
> kernel. So as long as the kernel supports your sound, it works.
Actually it is a little more complicated than that. Audio in Linux is not
that strong, and it is not yet IMHO, something that lures users to the
Linux world, and I have yet to hear someone that has running MIDI
running on a ppc-based linux. Not to underestimate the power that it
offers, but if you are interested in audio only, stick to MacOS, as it
offers some really powerful software.
> > Second question, how hard is it to move from linuxppc to debian. I
> > really don't appreciate the fact that linuxppc went commercial.
>
> linuxppc is based on Red Hat. So the /etc/ startup scripts live in different
> places. Debian also uses a different package format. other than that the
> differences are minute.
far from minute, I should say. Having two different packaging systems,
means that you should reinstall practically everything and reconfigure
everything. Even if you should manage to find a way to just keep the
binaries and apply the new packaging info, there is always the libc5/libc6
problem. Unless you use the new R5-pre which is libc6 based, then most of
your binaries will not be running -or will be but with problems, see
netscape. IMHO, anyone willing to make the jump to install debian to a new
root partition, and then clean everything up, keeping only the vital files
from redhat -some config files, convertable binaries that CANNOT be found
as libc6 binaries yet (netscape, some commercial s/w, etc.). Beware that
even if you use the same versions of some packages, it's unlikely that the
config files will work without some tweaking, as the two systems use a
slightly different path architecture.
Konstantinos Margaritis
kmargar@cc.uoa.gr
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