[ale] Debian 3.0 as a server platform?

[Robert L. Harris]

I concur completely.  As I posted previously, we run 750+ servers on
Debian Stable because taht way we don't have to run regression tests on
every app every week to keep it "up to date" but we know it's stable and
secure, exactly what I want on my server.

On all my home machines I run "unstable" which has had a total of 2
"issues" with broken software in 3 years.  Both of those were minor
upgrade issues which were easily worked around with a final fix in place
before COB.  My desktops and laptops have all the latest bells and
whistles and security is still top line, I just get (and have to do)
updates more often.


Thus spake Barry Hawkins (barry at bytemason.org):

> On Wed, Jun 01, 2005 at 07:05:29PM -0400, Thomas Holmquist spake thus:
> > Debian, as you may know, does not have the latest packages/programs;
> > although this can be troublesome on the desktop, I have no problem
> > running older software on my server.
> [...]
> A number of others have said what Thomas  has said here, so I am not 
> singling him out, but all would do well to check on just what Debian 
> has avaialable in the way of packages.  Due to some rather stringent 
> and at in some cases unfortunate labeling of Debian releases, there 
> seems to be much misconception/misinformation regarding software 
> available in Debian.
> 
> No one who chooses to run Debian stable as their desktop install should 
> complain about package availability and updates, any more than they 
> should complain about not being able to run gPhoto on RHEL or SLES with
> their new USB-capable digital camera.  
> Here's why:
> 
> Think of the three Debian releases[0] this way:
> 
> Stable - rock solid, not prone to change much except for security 
> updates; great for servers like the question originally posted here.
> 
> Testing - the candidate for the next stable, as up to date as any other 
> distro, except for certain areas where the free software guidelines and 
> Debian's policies against packaging precompiled binaries in the source 
> packages and the like impede the more rapid pace of, say, Fedora or the 
> others.  See "what is testing?"[1] and "how it becomes stable"[2] in 
> the Debian FAQ for more.  
> 
> Unstable - where newly-developed and newly-introduced packages make their 
> main debut. if you blindly update any and all software ignoring any dependency 
> warnings, you may get yourself in a fix here.
> 
> I run the "unstable" release on my PowerBook G4 daily as my main machine, 
> and I seldom have issues.  The issues I have had usually iron out with the 
> next package upload.  I should add that I use aptitude and actually examine 
> the effects of upgrading and installing packages before doing so, which 
> greatly enhances your experience over blindly running `apt-get install`.
> 
> Also, there are some people for whom Debian will never be a fit, and I 
> don't see it trying to become all things to all people, even with the 
> changes to our release schedules and so forth.  Debian is still run by 
> volunteers, still strongly committed to free software, and committed to 
> supporting a variety of architectures.  If none of the above matters to 
> you, then it could be that one of the more commercial distros that is 
> focused on x86 would be a better choice.
> 
> [0] - http://www.debian.org/releases/
> [1] - http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-ftparchives#s-testing
> [2] - http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-ftparchives#s-frozen
> 
> Regards,
> -- 
> Barry Hawkins
> All Things Computed
> site: www.alltc.com
> weblog: www.yepthatsme.com
> 
> Registered Linux User #368650



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> Ale at ale.org
> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale

:wq!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert L. Harris                     | GPG Key ID: E344DA3B
                                         @ x-hkp://pgp.mit.edu
DISCLAIMER:
      These are MY OPINIONS             With Dreams To Be A King,
       ALONE.  I speak for              First One Should Be A Man
       no-one else.                       - Manowar

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