[ILUG] Which Distro ?

[Chris Higgins]

>  Debian is easier and much quicker to install. The packages won't be as
> "bleeding edge" but the closer you get to the edge the more you trade
> in stability... its your choice. It has a great reputation for stability.

Not wanting to either flame, or restart a distro war - I'd like to add my opinion
on Debian 'unstable'.

We've been running debian 'unstable' on all our machines in the office here
for the last two years. The desktops used by the training administators are
all running debian 'unstable'

We've never noticed anything unstable about it at all - what we do occasionally
get is a app that has a new bug - and the day later we get the fixed version.
Sometimes it's the people here who find the bugs, and I walk them through the
bug reporting process ( not the details ) and show them the logged bug... Then 
when the bug is fixed I send them a copy of the bug report with a 'that problem
you found is fixed, here's what they guy that fixed it had to say about it'... so
they are getting the warm fuzzy feeling of helping fix things ( and also seeing
the actual fixed bug report - so they know that it is actually fixed )

Last year I installed apt-listbugs, and now I get to see known critical bugs about
packages *before* I install them[1] - so I can now decided to hold off on some of the
packages that might want special attention ( eg: php4 updates on apache2 server ),
since then we haven't had any issues reach the desktop users.

However, lots of the 'critical/grave' bugs that I've seen over the last while have
either been specific to an architecture we don't use, or were for very specific
end user setups that didn't match our uses here.

I don't think that debian unstable is deserving of the name, however I think that
what is true about debian unstable is that the onus is on the administrator to check
what goes onto the system before they install it - debian stable tries to help by
filtering the packages through all those who are willing to perform that extra level
of care.

I think that administrators who install stuff onto boxes without due care
and attention suffer from OS instability - no matter what OS or variant
they use - and that applies equally to all operating systems.

Debian stable provides a filtering service so that what you get is well worn
and tested - but I prefer to break in my own shoes, and underwear.

Debian unstable expects more care and attention to the details, and a willingness
to go check if the new version of some application requires config file changes or
other bits taken care of before it can be deployed across the network... it feels
like that nice pair of comfy shoes that just snuggle up around your feet and feel
like they have always been there.


[1] yeah - yeah - I only see it if someone else has found and logged it first.

Chris