Re: Debian/RedHat at our university
iThank you all, I've created my list with your 5 cents.
Here it is:
Debian vs RedHat and the others:
1. Debian has a large number of packages (2400 in potato, and just under
2000 in slink). All of the package maintainers communicate, so thus the
packages work more smoothly together.
Nearly all software is packaged "offcicially"and quality controlled.
Most
RPMs are broken or incorrectly packaged or designed for a distribution
other
than the one you have; it's easy to break your system with these. Even
the
official Red hat RPMs don't have the quality of Debian packages;
consider
that Debian maintainers usual use the software themselves.
2. Debian is also a bit more stable. I think, that the support in chat
rooms and mailing lists is far superior as well.
All the software in the 'main' section is guaranteed to be distributable
and usable for any purpose; no other distribution makes this guarantee.
That means you have to read the license for every package and be sure
you
can include it on your CD. With Debian, just use the official CD and
you're
safe.
Small touches: backspace/delete work right in most apps, for example.
There
are tons of little things like this that Debian gets right.
3. RH has the easy install method, debian has the easy upgrade of
individual packages method (i.e., apt-get install package.deb.) But
Debian
also has an easy install: after installing the base
system, install asks you to select the type of installation you want,
and
selects packages accordingly. Then dselect runs to allow you to
configure
more precisely.
4. DPKG vs RPM, two features make DPKG better:
A. DPKG has multiple levels of depends, indicating that a program
REQUIRES another program, RECOMMEDNS another program, or SUGGESTS
another program. Also, Debian subdivides packages into multiple ones to
avoid duplication and reduce download sizes when upgrades are made.
B. With Debian and DFTP or APT, you don't have to worry about RedHat
releasing a distribution. With Redhat you must reboot your computer with
floppies specify upgrade and let the system migrate from one major
number to the
other. With debian you set into the sources.list the new distrib name
next to the
old in first time and let the system upgrade smoothly without reboot...
5. In debian the packages are more or less left as made by their
authors,
which means that the config files are in the same place as in the
original
source distribution and not in some impossible place like some RPM
packages
6. Debian being the only non-commercial distribution, which means that
the university can make copies of there own and sell them tot the
students for any price. Licensing issues are not an issue in
debian because everything has a license in the form of GPL (or similar).
This allows free alterations and distribution.
7. Debian releases only when the dist is ready and not a day before.
Deb can do this because the developers aren't working on a
management-imposed release deadline.
8. Manuals are coming in the Dutch Language:
http://panic.et.tudelft.nl/debian/handleiding/index.html
--
Bernhard Dobbels Student Electronic Engineer
option Automation and Computersystems.
E-mail: Bernhard@KotNet.Org
Bernhard.Dobbels@Esat.KULeuven.ac.be
ICQ: 25783372
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