[Techtalk] dealing with debian

[Dave North]

emma:
> I'm looking for some other folks that rely on package managers for their
> software installations.

With few exceptions, I used to run "testing" (sarge) and use apt-get or
dpkg for everything.
	Unstable is a crapshoot, and one you _will_ lose eventually. They
don't call it unstable for nothing.
	I said "used to" because I now run a custom distro called Libranet
that is a wonderful revamp of woody that includes _all_ the latest
software (almost) and works great. It's expensive, though, at $60 a pop.
	But it works like other debians anyway.

> But i'm finding it frustrating for other things like: Open Office
> (getting the package manager to work) and Mozilla (getting the latest
> version).
>
> What do others do for the few pieces of software that can't be done with
> package managers? Do you just install from source and forget about the
> package managers?

The two you mention both come with installers that work Just Fine with all
three branches of Debian, especially testing.
	I just downloaded each and used their installer. Give it a shot;
no problems at all for me.
	(For those who haven't been following the Winds of Debian, since
the release of Woody there has been a Very Strong Effort to keep "testing"
(sarge at this time) in working order. Debian has acknowledged that almost
no desktop users hang with stable unless they Really Want Stability, which
it Really Does Offer (unlike _all_ other distros).
	There are some other minor packages that I install from source,
and one major one (drscheme) and they all work fine. Debian manages to
keep track of these, too, under a special category in both dselect and
aptitude.

> If I have a package manager that doesn't work, should I
> tell someone or assume that I've missed something?

You can report it as a bug. It has been quite some time since apt-get has
failed for me.


d