Re: OT: Re: files list file for package 'man-db' ontains empty filename

[Wolfgang Weisselberg <weissel@netcologne.de>]

Cameron MacFarland (cameronm@iinet.net.au) wrote 24 lines:
> >On Fri, Nov 01, 2002 at 12:53:23AM -0500, Tristen Hayfield wrote:

> >>I can no longer install/uninstall software using dselect because of
> >>this error.  Can anyone help?

> >Forget it!
> >Your friend is apt-get.

> Why are there always people who do this?

> "I have a problem with X. How do I fix it?"
> "You don't. Use Y instead."

Because most people want to solve a problem P.  P is
something like "get and read my mail" or "be able to recover
from catastrophic disk failure".

Now, people don't ask about P.  They just assume they can
solve P with tools T_1, ..., T_n, using method M.  Then they
run into a problem P_{T_x, M_x} [1].  Now, they are sure that
their choosen toolset and their choosen methodset is A-OK.
Therefore they ask about solving P_{T_x, M_x}.

Now, P_{T_x, M_x} may be easy, hard or impossible to solve.
This is, however, not relevant, for the person who answers
guesses -- most of the time correctly -- what P is, and
answers on that.

> Idiots.

So, when you say: 
    "How do I get my IIS stable?  I need to have it running 24/7,
    but I get a bluescreen on Win 95 every couple hours or so"
and I answer 
    "Well, you might try Linux and Apache -- unless you
    absolutely *need* some IIS feature -- its far more stable and
    secure."
you'll call me an idiot?  

I'd be an idiot not to tell you that you may get IIS more stable
-- for example switching to 2000 or so -- but something that's
better is right around the corner.

Here, P is (un)installing software.  
P is not "install/uninstall using dselect, because nothing else
  will do".
P_{dselect} is "install/uninstall using dselect".

For all we know, there's no reason to use dselect -- if it is,
the asker will say e.g. "Thanks, but I need dselect, because I
want recommendations, which apt-get will not do" ... (in which case
aptitude may be a solution).  

Since the asker elected not to explain why zie believes dselect
is (or more exactly, some features of dselect are) neccessary,
any solution for P is a good answer.  Unless you believe
everybody knows every existing tool and method and has thought of
them all and thrown all of them out as unworkable.

-Wolfgang

[1] That is a problem doing method M_x with Tool T_x.
    You called that "a problem with X".