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Debian is amazing.

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 9:11 pm
by Todd_Z
I grew up on windows. I was resistant to make the conversion, but I did it -> first to gentoo, then to archlinux, and now have been settled on ubuntu for quite sometime.

I had php 5.0.X, mysql 4.1.X, and i needed to upgrade.

Problem: the newest packages weren't available in the synaptic gui that I have come to love so much.

Solution: http://www.dotdeb.org/

DotDeb keeps the newest version of programs such as php and mysql in .deb form.

I downloaded the 20 or so .dev files combined for php and mysql dependencies [found in two folders on the server]

and ran: dpkg -i *.deb on the files I downloaded.

Within a minute, I had version php 5.1 and mysql 5.0 installed perfectly.

How can you not transfer to linux, specifically debian, specifically ubuntu??

Re: Debian is amazing.

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 9:35 pm
by Burrito
Todd_Z wrote:How can you not transfer to linux, specifically debian, specifically ubuntu??
three alphanumeric characters:

B and F and 2

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 10:22 pm
by Todd_Z
if that was a reference to battlefield 2, then yes, there is that argument.

Problem: Linux has weak support for games
Solution: But a platform!

with a platform, you can be playing bf2 AND be progging PHP at the same time!

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 10:23 pm
by d3ad1ysp0rk
Todd_Z wrote:if that was a reference to battlefield 2, then yes, there is that argument.

Problem: Linux has weak support for games
Solution: But a platform!

with a platform, you can be playing bf2 AND be progging PHP at the same time!
And if you like the keyboard/mouse combo?

so... buy a whole new console, AND a new keyboard/mouse setup? oh yeah, AND the game?

Ouch, there goes the extra spending cash for the month.. heh

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:03 pm
by Todd_Z
to support linux usage, I'll buy you all an xbox 360 :D

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:21 pm
by Benjamin
I just run linux from 1 pc and windows from another pc on the same monitor at the same time and it works fine for me:)

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:33 pm
by d3ad1ysp0rk
Todd_Z wrote:to support linux usage, I'll buy you all an xbox 360 :D
Well, you live close enough. Come to the next Boston-PHP meetup with one in hand, and I'll be a linux user. :lol:

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 1:34 am
by RobertGonzalez
XBox? Isn't that the textarea field in XForms? Or is it what adult movies are packaged in? Cross-member supported shipping containers? Linux comes in boxes now?!?!?!?

OK, so it is late and I have been coding for hours and I am tired and I know what an xbox is and that was a crappy attempt at humor at 11:30PM. Can I go to bed now?

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 1:38 am
by RobertGonzalez
OK, not bed yet. Forgot to actually post something meaningful about Linux...

I have experience with Fedora Core only, but when it comes to operating systems and ease of use for the core functionality, Linux got in going on. I know everyone has their favorite distro so I won't open that debate (again), but I can honestly say that updating software (with a proper repository setup) is one of my favorite aspects of Linux. That, and the security. And how sexy I become to my wife when I speak geek.

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 11:22 am
by Todd_Z
my boss has been a server admin since he was like 15 and he has worked with every type of OS and hardware under the sun, and he swears by FreeBSD - something about installing from packages and source and never breaking a dependency - which would be a very nice feature if it worked the same way with debian. But for the rest of us normal server admins and developers, linux is great.

Especially when we get the chicks cuz we can speak 11Nu}{ 1337 Sp34k

An another note... its really sad that there are so many distributions of linux. If all the developers who have the skills to create distros were working on the same 5 or 6 projects, then I linux would grow so much faster. More minds are better than fewer.

When I make my first billion, I'm going on a advertising rampage... I want ubuntu superbowl commercials!

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 11:29 am
by RobertGonzalez
Todd_Z wrote:An another note... its really sad that there are so many distributions of linux. If all the developers who have the skills to create distros were working on the same 5 or 6 projects, then I linux would grow so much faster. More minds are better than fewer.
I think Microsoft tried this and now the entire world is stuck with Windows (except for a few of us dissidents that refuse to give up our freedom of choice 8O ).
Todd_Z wrote:When I make my first billion, I'm going on a advertising rampage... I want ubuntu superbowl commercials!
I would so watch that commercial. Well, actually I'd be watching all the commercials because Superbowl Sunday is a national holiday in my house. But I'd pay closer attention to yours. :wink:

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 12:54 pm
by timvw
Todd_Z wrote:my boss has been a server admin since he was like 15 and he has worked with every type of OS and hardware under the sun, and he swears by FreeBSD - something about installing from packages and source and never breaking a dependency - which would be a very nice feature if it worked the same way with debian.
apt-get source exists for a reason :P And gentoo must have got the 'ports' idea from somewhere... ;)

Todd_Z wrote: An another note... its really sad that there are so many distributions of linux. If all the developers who have the skills to create distros were working on the same 5 or 6 projects, then I linux would grow so much faster. More minds are better than fewer.
Imho, it's great to see a variety of possibilities, as it allows you to experiment with the various approaches. (Admitted, for newcomers it's harder because you have to actually make a choose instead of getting one and only one solution).

If everyone was working on the same distro's ubuntu would never have been developed, since in essence it's just debian (some might argue that it's debian, but done better)

Btw, there are many *bsd versions too ;)

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 1:04 pm
by Christopher
I am definitely a Debian user and have a Ubuntu box as well -- but still use straight Debian testing usually. I also really like FreeBSD and use it for web servers because it is easier for me to keep clean and secure for some reason. Maybe it is the packages.
Todd_Z wrote:An another note... its really sad that there are so many distributions of linux. If all the developers who have the skills to create distros were working on the same 5 or 6 projects, then I linux would grow so much faster. More minds are better than fewer.
This may be true and may not be -- time will tell. We may look back and think, "all that distro choice was what killed MS." Maybe not. I think things like LSB and the Portland project are continally making the distros much more alike under the hood.

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 6:32 pm
by Todd_Z
I just think that the open source community would benefit greatly with more collaboration. Why compete when its open source anyways?

Granted that variety is good, saturation is bad.

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 6:52 pm
by Christopher
Maybe. But it is both the licenses and the ability to fork that keeps all open source projects honest. Though it sometimes leads to uncomfortable and ineffecient episodes, in the long term is has proved very successful.