Merced - and the ol' Unix story (was Re: OT, but info needed: RAM uprade)

From: Hans Franke <Hans.Franke_at_mch20.sbs.de>
Date: Wed Jan 20 09:29:53 1999

> > > How would an enduser tell the difference between a Windows installation
> > > program that copies files to the right places and modifies some
> > > configuration files, and a linux one that copies some files to the right
> > > places, modifies some configuration files and runs make to build the
> > > binaries from the C source. It doesn't require _any_ more knowledge.

> > If the installation does this all for me, without any problems
> > (like different header files, unimportent, but ill behavied defines
> > or a different compiler version - not to mention different libc's)

> So what you're really complaining about is poorly done source kits. OK, I
> can agree there. But perhaps I've been lucky as a lot of things just
> build with no problems...

_I_ had never substantal problems, but a lot of times some minor
tasks (like described below) had to be done - and finding and
creating a missing directory isn't every end users thing (especialy
the decision what to create, if there is no error message and you
have to look inside the RPM and Make scripts.

> > _and_ without any unnecersary interacion (like start the package manager,
> > change directory, change environment settings, change script files,
> > start 3 make runs, change /stc/* setings, etc.), I'm completly fine
> > with that, but in fact, I never had the luck - I _can't_ remember
> > any situation where I installed a source level package in an unix

> Point is, if the source is that badly behaved, then the binary probably
> is as well (depends on a particular version of libc, requires
> files in specific places, etc). And more people can fix the source than
> fix the binary.

:))) Shure, but even these 'more' people are 'less'. An end user can't
fix it - accept it, there is less than one of us for 10.000 users, and
if Unix shall succeede it has to reach them not us - we can handle all
the stuff (or at least I hope we can). And my original comment is still
true - Unix is only partly acceptable as x86 Linux, and I doubt that a
Merced kernal and lots of sources will have more success than all the
other unixes thru the last 20 years (with a notable exception of x86
Linux).

Gruss
H.




--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
Received on Wed Jan 20 1999 - 09:29:53 GMT

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