On Tue, 2004-07-13 at 19:57, ricktaylor@speakeasy.net wrote:
> > From: Greg Folkert [mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net]
> > On Tue, 2004-07-13 at 16:46, ricktaylor@speakeasy.net wrote:
> > > > From: Greg Folkert [mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net]
> > >
> > > > Apt-get has MUCH MUCH better dependency handling (yes I know
> about that
> > >
> > > How's that?
> >
> > Mainly apt-get doesn't screw with things that way dselect does, in
> its
> > nearly-prehistoric methods. Like doing things for you, that you
> > shouldn't without asking "Hey, Girl-Pants! Are you really sure you
> want
> > to be STUPID?"
> >
> > If you want apt-get|aptitude to act similarly there are options for
> em,
> > other wise apt-get|aptitude behave much more friendly.
>
> This is the man page {man apt-get at google} for apt-get, etc.
> http://annys.eines.info/cgi-bin/man/man2html?8+apt-get
> http://annys.eines.info/cgi-bin/man/man2html?8+dselect
> http://annys.eines.info/cgi-bin/man/man2html?8+dpkg
or how about from a command line:
man apt-get
man dselect
man dpkg
> Read the description on the dselect man page.
I have before, but here is the line you mean:
DESCRIPTION
dselect is one of the primary user interfaces for
managing packages on a Debian system.
Let me see.
dselect is *ONE* of the primary user *INTERFACES*
Dog Poo is sufficient to feed you with, you will survive, you may even
grow in size, eating enough of it. But why would you choose to eat Dog
Poo when there is a Good Ole' Hamburger with everything on it sitting
right next to it under a cover? Because you didn't know it was there.
Yes, I akin dselect as a good interface up to and including potato.
After that I do think it has been past it's prime. Yes it still CAN and
DOES pull the bacon from the fire, when it needs to. But puh-lease, it
is only primary because it was there first. A Good first stab at an
interface.
Aptitude is excellent for a curses based interface. Much easier to use
for new-type people. Track auto-installed packages MUCH better. apt-get
is my preferred method of upgrades. I have a pretty long history of
being able to manage with apt-get and straight dpkg after some have
blown-up machines using dselect and it's... umm whacked way of helping
out. dselect has very archaic layout and operational characteristics
that easily confuse new users to Debian, but previously using RedHat or
Mandrake etc... making them Familiar to Linux, but baffled by dselect.
Aptitude, apt-get and dpkg are more than enough to help me out in a
command line environ. Actually I do not use any other interfaces for
package management.
> I've broken installs with any and all of the above mentioned
> programs. {I've broken installs with every package manager on debian.}
> The real point there is that "I" broke them.
No, arguing there, every machine that broke during an upgrade... was due
to my lack of attention.
> If you take your time, pay attention to what you're doing, don't try
> to upgrade a huge number of packages at once and are just plain
> careful you don't really have many problems. {Doing the distribution
> upgrade thing is arguably safer. ...Those will break too. They are a
> little more cut and dried, all of the dependencies are covered,
> etc...}
>
> Personally, I'd use kpackage or synaptic in X and dselect in a
> terminal {mainly because synaptic and kpackage are easier to read...
> the on-screen information is a little better organized and so on.}. I
> think the most important part of the whole thing is to go at it a few
> packages at a time and
> try to keep things upgraded across the board. It's when you start
> holding packages or neglecting to fix broken, low-level stuff that you
> start to have problems.
Yep, I only hold when I have definite issues with explicit versions.
> What are you thinking dselect does for you that apt-get doesn't?
For me, it brings me more consulting work from befuddled users/admins
that hit a couple of wrong keys and bork up the production machine by
remove things needed!
So, maybe I *AM* wrong about not liking dselect!
--
greg, greg@gregfolkert.net
The technology that is
Stronger, better, faster: Linux
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