[ale] The bad thing about RPMs

[Stuffed Crust]

On Thu, Feb 07, 2002 at 06:26:31PM -0500, Kevin Krumwiede wrote:
> I decided to replace my Mandrake installation with Linux From Scratch before
> I take another stab at getting rid of Windows.  RPMs are nice and all, but
> there's one big problem with them that needs to be addressed by the distros:
> stability in the libraries they're built against.  I'm tired of having to
> upgrade half the system every time I want to install a piece of software, or
> risk instability if I override the dependency checks.  I think that when Red
> Hat or Mandrake comes out with a new major version, they should freeze the
> library versions until the next major update.  That way, an RPM built on,
> say, Mandrake 8.1 could be installed on Mandrake 8.0 without upgrading a
> dozen other packages.

One obvious flaw in your argument.  Using your reasoning, we'd end up
with "...an RPM built on, say, Mandrake 13 could be installed on
Mandrake 12 without upgrading a dozen other packages."

Come on, if you want to not upgrade a dozen other packages, then why
don't you get a RPM built against Mandrake 8.0 instead of 8.1?   Or
hell, get the SRPM and rebuild it yourself.

That's the whole point of new releases.  To add new functionaility that
may or may not use old libs.

What you are proposing is actually the model Debian uses; if you're fed
up with Mandrake, why not use Debian instead?  Of course, you'd quickly
get fed up with Debian/Stable's generally outdated software.  You want
bleeding edge programs, you'll end up with bleeding-edge dependencies.

 - Pizza
-- 
Solomon Peachy                                    pizzaATfucktheusers.org
I ain't broke, but I'm badly bent.                           ICQ# 1318344
Patience comes to those who wait.
    ...It's not "Beanbag Love", it's a "Transanimate Relationship"...

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