<p>Keep in mind the time lag between upstream app moves to new version and distro can package app into appropriate format.<br>
Also, not all upstream changes will work on distro current without MASSIVE changes. Thus distro bacports security patches.</p>
<p>In short, if you want to run bleeding edge stuff, your cost is your time. If you want less effort then a notch back from bleeding edge is what you get.</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Nov 7, 2011 11:03 AM, "Ron Frazier" <<a href="mailto:atllinuxenthinfo@c3energy.com">atllinuxenthinfo@c3energy.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
On 11/6/2011 11:02 PM, David Tomaschik wrote:<br>
> On 11/05/2011 09:02 AM, Ron Frazier wrote:<br>
><br>
>> Hi all,<br>
>><br>
>> I've been going through my routine pc maintenance procedures, updating<br>
>> everything which connects to the internet for every login on every<br>
>> computer, checking security settings, doing backups and such. One of<br>
>> the things I'm trying to get away from by using Linux is the Windows<br>
>> pattern of having to update everything in the system manually, which is<br>
>> very time consuming. I'm running Ubuntu 10.04, and, for the most part,<br>
>> the Apt / Synaptic package manager system handles the updates. I have<br>
>> two anomalies that are really bugging me.<br>
>><br>
>><br>
> <snip><br>
><br>
>> Sincerely,<br>
>><br>
>> Ron<br>
>><br>
>><br>
> Ron,<br>
><br>
> For every choice you make in life, there is a price to be paid. You<br>
> choose to run LTS editions of Ubuntu, and you've explained your<br>
> reasoning before on the mailing list. Unfortunately, one of the prices<br>
> of running an LTS edition is that you may not have the most current<br>
> versions of software.<br>
><br>
> At work, we do run 10.04 LTS on servers, and there are times where I<br>
> have to roll new packages to get newer versions of software than is<br>
> available in the repos -- though I try not to, if at all possible.<br>
> Sometimes we just decide to live without a feature or two. Again, it's<br>
> a tradeoff.<br>
><br>
><br>
Hi David,<br>
<br>
I understand what you're saying. However, if I may indulge in a bit of<br>
comparative analysis, let's look at the alternatives on the Windows side<br>
of the fence, when I dual boot. I'm running a couple of computers with<br>
Vista and one with Windows 7. My Son's and Dad's machines run Vista as<br>
well. So, 4 of the 5 are running the prior generation of MS software.<br>
Before I retired it, I had an old laptop running XP. All those OS's are<br>
still "supported" by MS. I think XP support expires in 2013, so I might<br>
have to update that beast once more before the OS reaches end of life.<br>
In any case, I'm still getting security patches and bug fixes for the OS<br>
from the manufacturer for all the old systems, similar to Ubuntu's LTS<br>
system. Now, on an application level, almost all the vendors that<br>
support Windows still support the older systems, even XP in most cases.<br>
So, when I go to <a href="http://www.java.com" target="_blank">www.java.com</a> and check my Java version, it says (in<br>
effect) "Oh, you have 6.26 and you need 6.29. Let me fix that for you.<br>
Click here." So, I click there, and if everything works, even my oldest<br>
systems get updated to 6.29, etc. Now, as I've said before, I don't<br>
like the fact that I have to update each thing on Windows separately.<br>
However, it is undeniably true that, should I wish to spend the time, I<br>
can have everything in my systems, even on a 10 year old machine,<br>
running the current OS bug fixes and security patches, and the apps<br>
running their current versions, and the system fully capable of being<br>
used in 2011.<br>
<br>
So, right now, if I want to have my Linux machine running the most<br>
current LibreOffice 3.4.3 (I think) and the most current Oracle Java<br>
6.29, like some of my Windows machines already are, I have to go through<br>
procedures for those two applications to update them which are<br>
substantially more difficult than those on Windows. I had a similar<br>
problem with Firefox in Linux. I was stuck on the 3.26 (or something)<br>
version sequence, and Synaptic refused to even show anything of the<br>
version 7.x sequence, which is what Firefox is on now. I solved that<br>
problem by adding the Mozilla PPA. So now, just like my Windows<br>
machine, my Linux machine always has the most current stable version of<br>
Firefox. Now I'll admit to not being knowledgeable about all the inner<br>
workings of Linux. However, given the availability of the Apt /<br>
Synaptic package manager system in Ubuntu, or similar ones in other<br>
distributions, I don't see why I cannot have the best of both worlds, a<br>
continuously updated and patched OS AND continuously updated and patched<br>
applications which are always updated to their current rev level, AND,<br>
done so automatically. I do understand that there are 200 or so<br>
distributions. However, I'm running one of the top 5, so I would think<br>
the vendors could support those in the way I'm describing.<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
Ron<br>
<br>
--<br>
<br>
(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to<br>
call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy<br>
mailing lists and such. I don't always see new messages very quickly.)<br>
<br>
Ron Frazier<br>
<br>
<a href="tel:770-205-9422" value="+17702059422">770-205-9422</a> (O) Leave a message.<br>
linuxdude AT <a href="http://c3energy.com" target="_blank">c3energy.com</a><br>
<br>
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