[geeks] Re: [rescue] This Just In: HP to buy Compaq

[Paul Sladen]

On Wed, 5 Sep 2001, Kurt Huhn wrote:
> >
> > At school debian is used because key people feel that apt-get works
> > better than the redhat equivalent.
> 
> We use SuSE almost exclusivley at work.  All told, SuSE
> seems to be a very mature distibution of Linux.

[I've just re-read what I've written, it isn't intended as a flame-bait].
[To Geeks if it turns into one].

FWIW.  I used SuSE because it rocked (hey, I even have box-sets on my
Shelf),  then I get into Sparcs,  SuSE just /wouldn't/ install,  Debian did,
and straight off the net too.

So now, I run Debian everywhere, because it runs on most archs out there
(don't mention NetBSD);  It apt-get's anything I need, on demand.
(Tip: When you have 40 Debian Boxen all set up to us a single Mirror site
and a Proxy, installs just *fly*).

Debian also allows me to work the opposite way;  instead of installing
everything across 6 cds -- on the off-chance that I might need it -- I
install the base 50MB on a machine, and the next time I happen to need
{dig,traceroute,emacs,finger,killall}, I just type `apt-get install foo',
and there it is, downloaded, installed, and ready to use in 20seconds.

(This allows me sell a Debian Managed Server with a 2.1GB disk as 2GB!).

Security:  `apt-get update ; apt-get upgrade' twice a week in the Cron
files, and the machines patch *themselves*.  Kudos to the Debian Security
team.

Paul

I once asked the chief tech guy of my local telco if he ever intended to
patch the Caldera install he had just done.  He said No.  I sold him Debian.