Differences between revisions 10 and 11
Revision 10 as of 2004-12-07 13:09:43
Size: 5423
Editor: anonymous
Comment:
Revision 11 as of 2004-12-07 13:20:36
Size: 5435
Editor: anonymous
Comment:
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
Line 33: Line 33:
compile nearly everything that runs on their own box. It must be considered that compiling on its own box doesn't necessarily give a great (or even any) speed improvement, as this [http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=227&page=1 analysis] shows. There are various other ways to improve the speed of Debian GNU/Linux. See LinuxSpeedup for a lot of hints. compile nearly everything that runs on their own box. It must be considered that compiling on its own box doesn't necessarily give a great (or even any) speed improvement, as this [http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=227&page=1 analysis] (dead link) shows. There are various other ways to improve the speed of Debian GNU/Linux. See LinuxSpeedup for a lot of hints.

Flame on ;-) (?DebianVsOtherDistros Flamewar, tee hee!!!)


There are three principal classes of ["GNU"]/["Linux"] distribution:

As of 2003, ?LinuxWeeklyNews lists 335 active variants of Linux; there are doubtless more. Not all fit into this categorisation, but the general rules will serve you well.

Any managed distro differs from an unmanaged distribution by keeping track of packages (sets of related software), and their dependencies. Generally speaking, the package management system won't let you install packages for which you lack prerequisites, or remove packages on which other packages depend, unless you specifically override it.

Debian takes this a step further by identifying the packages which provide dependencies (often selecting these for installation), or the packages which are dependent on a package selected for removal. Though other distros are beginning to aquire some of this functionality, Debian leads strongly in this area.

Not to rest there, Debian 2.2 introduced DebConf, which can be simply described as "Install Shield Wizards Done Right". This system simplifies the process of configuring installed packages and maintaining selected configuration options through an upgrade. Debian 3.0 introduced UpdateCluster, which simplifies administration of networks of machines such as DebianBeowulf clusters. In both cases, the maintenance of our FreeSoftware packages by the vast DebianDeveloper network allows Debian to customize package installation to make these tools useful in a way which no other distribution or proprietary OS can match.

For several classes of packages, DebianPolicy provides consistency which makes administration considerably easier. For example, any package providing emacs lisp code must conform to Debian emacs policy, so that, for example, installing auctex byte-compiles its elisp for every version of emacs installed (emacs20, emacs21, mule, xemacs, etc.). The DebianMenu system makes all applications easy to find from any desktop or window manager.

In addition, running Debian has high nerd value as compared to other distributions such as ?RedHatLinux. It has the benefit of being generally usable and largely accepted in a production environment while still being l33t.

From what I have heard, gentoo has a fully functional package like system of its own. In fact I hear it is one of the easiest distro's to install things, it will automatically download packges and dependancies and build and install them.

A significant difference between gentoo and Debian is the availability of binary packages from Debian--gentoo packages are almost always built on the local machine. This is acceptable to some people, on some machines, but not everyone will have the combination of patience and compilation power to compile nearly everything that runs on their own box. It must be considered that compiling on its own box doesn't necessarily give a great (or even any) speed improvement, as this [http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=227&page=1 analysis] (dead link) shows. There are various other ways to improve the speed of Debian GNU/Linux. See LinuxSpeedup for a lot of hints.

Of course, Gentoo offers most packages as source or binary form for common architectures, but most people don't like to talk about that. It spoils all those compiling jokes.

Some seem to operate under the idea that compiling code on one's own box brings some security advantage. The advantage in using source code, though, comes from reading, auditing, and editing the source code. If one simply downloads and compiles code without first inspecting it, one might as well have downloaded a binary package.


GeorgesMariano The previous paragraph is not ... fair. It'is assumed that people used to compile source packages without modifying something. But in fact, the main reason why you choose to compile source is exactly to tweak something (may be activating some functionalities which are not provided by the binary package). AFAIK, Gentoo is provided with a framework which allows to define such preferences ... and this give a good reason to choose a source distribution vs a binary distribution.

You can't objectively explain the differences between Debian and Gentoo without exploring the reasons why people, one day, decide to switch.

NB I only use Debian... ;-)


Debian also has a noticeable body and active effort to support ports to non-ia32 hardware. Something not many distributions are willing or capable of doing.