[PLUG] For The SysAdmin Gurus

[Rogan Creswick]

On 8/15/06, Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Aug 2006, Wil Cooley wrote:
> > The difference is that you don't do it often enough to have gotten sick
> > of doing the manual stuff over and over again and realized that
> > sometimes you should trade off control for certain worries.
>
>    I don't use Slackware for control, but for stability 'way back from the
> bleeding edge.
>

So, would this problem qualify as "internal bleeding" ;) ?  (sorry,
couldn't resist.)

Re: the other user test, I'd still suggest a brand-spanking new one,
but I'm not that worked up over it ;).

I don't know slack very well, so I can't help much.  Maybe some one
here would have an idea if you could post some of the links that fail
to print.  There could be a weird technology at work that is known to
cause problems or something. (I'm shooting in the dark here, so I'll
shut up.)

--Rogan

> > That encapsulates my opinion of Slackware pretty well--but it's not just
> > Slackware, I used to worry and fiddle with an installation to keep the
> > size down as small as possible, to tweak and tune and fiddle bits here and
> > there. Nowadays, I could mostly care less.
>
>    I've not been a twiddler and tweaker, but a learner. When I learned enough
> to know how to do the things I wanted, I simplified my network and settled
> back to use the system as a means to an end, not an end in itself. Other
> than security upgrades to the system, and certain security or bug fixes to
> the applications I use daily, I don't futz with the system until I get a new
> distribution set in the mail. It takes me perhaps an hour to upgrade all
> three hosts here, and I'm done with system administration other than
> checking the log summaries mailed to me each morning and changing the backup
> tapes on Friday and Monday.
>
> > I'd rather work within the constraints of the system and focus my time
> > where I get either the least work down with the most accomplishment, or
> > the most fun.  I mean, if doing stuff manually is your thing, and you've
> > got the time, then by all means, love yourself all over it.  But it
> > doesn't sound like you do.
>
>    I don't know why you think I do things manually. The Slackware package
> tools (installpkg, upgradepkg, removepkg) make distribution and application
> upgrades much less of a hassle than I had with Red Hat.
>
> > I've only ever downloaded Firefox from mozilla.org for Windows
> > installations; for Linux installations, I used the included binary (or one
> > from an established 3rd party), built for my particular system.  The
> > problem that people complain about with Linux systems is the diversity of
> > environments; with a huge application like Firefox that depends so deeply
> > on many parts of the system, it's particularly bad.
>
>    Well, the problem also occurs with packages created specifically for
> Slackware. The same package won't properly print on the one box, but will on
> another. What that has to do with the distribution I don't know.
>
>    I know full well that you've a ton of experience. When three systems are
> running the same distribution and the same versions of everything, but one
> has a problem with one application that is not a problem on the other hosts,
> I fail to see how it's the result of my choice of a linux distribution.
> However, ...
>
> Rich
>
> --
> Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D.               |    The Environmental Permitting
> Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc.(TM)    |            Accelerator
> <http://www.appl-ecosys.com>     Voice: 503-667-4517      Fax: 503-667-8863
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