Thinking of switching

Gullible Jones · 2005-09-25 18:57:16

Yes, you read that right. I am actually thinking of switching to a different distribution. The situation with the Current repo has gotten that bad... Really, we are miles behind every distro other than Debian. Arch is not bleeding-edge any more; it has become trailing-edge. The Testing repo isn't quite stable enough to use, but there's plenty of stuff in it (e.g. Gnome 2.12) that is stable enough to move into Current, but hasn't been moved. Why? Sure, it's compiled with GCC 4, but would that even be a problem?

Come to think of it... Why wasn't everything switched over to GCC 4 before libtool-slay, so that we'd have an up-to-date Current branch during the slaying?

Look, sorry if I come across as trollish, or don't quite know what I'm talking about (probably the case), but I think I have a fair reason to be. Maybe Arch will be a viable distro again in a month or two, but as of right now it's very, very far behind where it ought to be.

(Frugalware is starting to look rather attractive...)

Mr Green · 2005-09-25 19:04:06

bye

Gullible Jones · 2005-09-25 19:06:00

Dude, I don't mean immediately

dtw · 2005-09-25 19:12:39

Gullible Jones wrote:

Come to think of it... Why wasn't everything switched over to GCC 4 before libtool-slay, so that we'd have an up-to-date Current branch during the slaying?

Good point.

But...do you realize how impatient this makes you look? It's been a month, that's all! Yes, it would be nice to have a tiny bit of news about when it might be all over but as soon as it is over you'll have the one of the most bleeding edge distros around (again). Surely that is worth waiting? But, if you got nothing better to do than reinstall distros all the time then why even bother posting about it, just get distro hopping.

I assume you hope to elicit some news about when it will all be over and the word is "soon". I have also been informed that there are going to be some changes round here soon...

Everyone should have recognised this period for what it is, a necessary evil. I think it could have been handled much better but regardless of that when it is done it is done and I hope some lessons might be learned.

So, don't bother switching. If the end of libtool slay and gcc was announced on Wednesday along with chalk of new dev positions to get things ticking along you'll be pissed if you switch now!

I am considering a new motto:

"When the going gets tough, the not-so-tough piss off to Ubuntu!"

Lightweights!

shadowhand · 2005-09-25 20:12:29

dibblethewrecker wrote:

I am considering a new motto:
"When the going gets tough, the not-so-tough piss off to Ubuntu!"

I like it! :twisted:

sullivanva · 2005-09-25 20:21:28

It's almost like a soap opera here.

It's not that I don't understand the feelings. It's a difficult job to maintain a distro in your spare time.

A virtual community such as this will never be as good or bad as a work environment. There isn't the same type of commitment. This is also a fairly small community in terms of how many people are involved.

I think it's important to try other distros. I tried Ubuntu, and there were things I liked about it, but after a week I put Arch back.

Dibble is right. The next version of Arch will be righteous.

Gullible Jones · 2005-09-25 20:22:19

Good point, DTW, I suppose I'll stick around - what with the archck kernel and firefox-devel (kudos to iphitus and shadowhand!), it's possible to have a secure system without using Testing.

dibblethewrecker wrote:

I am considering a new motto:
"When the going gets tough, the not-so-tough piss off to Ubuntu!"

Urgh. Now that is one distro I am not going to touch.

(Repeat after me: SystemV is evil... SystemV is evil... SystemV is evil...)

lucke · 2005-09-25 20:24:48

Is actually enabling 'testing' repo such a big hassle?

Not that it's currently unstable or something, just filled with gcc4 and libtool-slayed stuff.

Gullible Jones · 2005-09-25 20:26:28

Most of the stuff there works, but some doesn't.

dtw · 2005-09-25 21:38:21

and it's no good if you are building pkgs to distribute...as some of us are..including archck (credit please)

Gullible Jones · 2005-09-25 22:55:02

Yep, thanks to you too, DTW.

kensai · 2005-09-25 23:11:55

I was also noticing the lack of news there were in the Arch Linux scene. But from what I've read from what DTW said it is going to get good.

cactus · 2005-09-25 23:18:52

I use ubuntu on the desktop, and arch on the server..
you know what they say..

"Man with a foot in two different boats, either very flexible, or gets sore crotch."

woodstock · 2005-09-25 23:46:38

I don't really know what the point is for having every little thing bleeding edge. It's not like you MUST have the newest apps on your system right away. Don't worry, they're not going anywhere...

Anyway, my point is that it may look like things have slowed down with Arch's dev but infact it's still going rather smoothly from what I can see (maybe I'm blind, or need glasses). Besides, I think it's a good thing that the libslay and GCC 4 transition is being taken so seriously, it should mean good things in the end.

But what do I know.

Gullible Jones · 2005-09-26 00:26:25

There's nothing wrong with not being bleeding edge... But a distribution should be up-to-date. Updates for things like browsers are usually security updates, and security fixes should be employed whenever possible.

(FWIW, I define "bleeding edge" as "so new it doesn't quite work". That's pretty much what the Testing repo is.)

dtw · 2005-09-26 07:04:18

Gullible, you do a have a bit of a "thing" about security updates tho don't you, mate? Not to say that is bad but it says alot about why you might be frustrated and I agree with you: there is no reason why a critical update cannot be added to extra during this period, IMO.

Arch Linux

#1 2005-09-25 18:57:16

Thinking of switching

#2 2005-09-25 19:04:06

Re: Thinking of switching

#3 2005-09-25 19:06:00

Re: Thinking of switching

#4 2005-09-25 19:12:39

Re: Thinking of switching

#5 2005-09-25 20:12:29

Re: Thinking of switching

#6 2005-09-25 20:21:28

Re: Thinking of switching

#7 2005-09-25 20:22:19

Re: Thinking of switching

#8 2005-09-25 20:24:48

Re: Thinking of switching

#9 2005-09-25 20:26:28

Re: Thinking of switching

#10 2005-09-25 21:38:21

Re: Thinking of switching

#11 2005-09-25 22:55:02

Re: Thinking of switching

#12 2005-09-25 23:11:55

Re: Thinking of switching

#13 2005-09-25 23:18:52

Re: Thinking of switching

#14 2005-09-25 23:46:38

Re: Thinking of switching

#15 2005-09-26 00:26:25

Re: Thinking of switching

#16 2005-09-26 07:04:18

Re: Thinking of switching

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