[rescue] Linux/Sparc

[David Cantrell]

linc <linc at thelinuxlink.net> wrote:

> Just curious here, but if you were to install Linux on a sparcstation,
> what would be your Distro preference and why?

I used to run Redhat 6.0 on my SS2, heavily patched and upgraded.  It's
very easy to set up and it does just work straight off the CD.  However,
after a good couple of years of running Redhat both on x86 and Sparc, I
came to the conclusion that it's not really suitable for my use.  Not
because of any security concerns - I can easily fix those - but because
the package management isn't that good.  Now, I use Debian almost
exclusively.  When my SS2 died, I replaced it with a Sparcbook 3GX
running Debian-stable.  I use a *few* packages from Debian-testing as
well for things I absolutely *must* have, like support for ssh2.

I'll grant that Debian-stable does tend to lag behind other mainstream
distros in terms of what's supported, but the package management *works*
and apt-get is a wonderful tool - I tell it to install package Foo and
it figures out what else I need, and offers to download all the
dependencies for me.  Redhat doesn't do that, and it's a pain in the bum.

Oh, the other distro I use, on one box (I run Debian on four boxen) is
a fairly heavily customised Slackware.

> My particular preference is RedHat - but that's only really beacuse that's
> the distro I am most familiar with.  I am thinking of trying some others
> and wanted to see what you all had to say on the subject...

I strongly recommend Debian.  The package management is gorgeous.  And
unlike Redhat, it supports a whole bunch of platforms (Redhat seem to
have dropped Sparc altogether) and at least the Sparc distribution is
kept pretty much in sync with the x86 distro.

Did I tell you I *really* like the package management? :-)

-- 
David Cantrell | david at cantrell.org.uk | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david

    Considering the number of wheels Microsoft has found reason
    to invent, one never ceases to be baffled by the minuscule
    number whose shape even vaguely resembles a circle.
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