[Lvlug] I'm coming to the meeting at Dann's house

[Tom Walsh]

Daniel Killingsworth wrote:
> 
> For my .02, I prefer .tgz, simply because it can be used on anything *NIX
> like, such as Linux, FreeBSD, etc..... Also, correct me if I am wrong, but I
> have experienced that the RPM installations do not always install to the
> same directories that the .tzg does after compiling. When I go to look
> something up (usually in an O'Reilly book) they refer to the .tgz package,
> and the default directories that are created using that installation method,
> so configuring the application becomes that much easier, since the reference
> materials match the actual installation. This methodology may not suit the
> desktop user, but when you are trying to set up test environments for your
> boss to show him how great this stuff is, having the documentation match the
> installation makes the entire process faster and more likely to be put into
> production. I will be at the meeting tonight, so like I said, if I am
> mistaken, please let me know, as the RPM seems to be the 'easiest' install,
> but I have had problems with finding what I need to configure the program
> later.
> 


Of course the problem with a tarball is that it nearly always a source
tarball, very little are tars of binary install images (unless you are
using slackware and the package manager).  Even if you get a binary
tarball, you still have to list it (tar tf <name>) and try to dope out
what file is what that got placed where...  The same is true for an rpm
(rpm -qlp <name>).

Tarballs are generally a generic distro format that assumes a generic
file directory tree locations according to the most common volume
layouts (sys V), rpms are specific formats that are built to the
particular distro.  I don't know how many times I have chosen a source
tarball over an SRPM and gotten burned!  Try building KDE 2.0 and QT
from the source tarballs on a RH7 system, it just doesn't work...  When
you get the KDE SRPMs you also get the patches to the original sources
to adapt them to run on the RH7 distro.

No, if you are going to distribute software to newbies.

1.  KISS  (keep it simple).
2.  Be very carefull about "goodie" CD's as some of the RPMs may break
things on one distro & not another.

IMHO, it is a wonderful thing that we have so many goodies available to
us, but how useful would this be to a newbie?  The primary thing, I
think, would be to give them a distro they can play with, then offer to
mentor them in their exploration.  Get them to join in the list-server,
get them interested in coming to meet with other club members.  I think
that once anyone decides to use linux then they will not have any
problems with locating "goodies".

Make this a brainless install...  You gotta keep these newbies from
getting dazed with "Okay, so I mount the CD, then what do I do?". 
Remember, you are dealing with Windoze (l)users who can only "point &
click".

TomW


-- 
Tom Walsh - WN3L - Embedded Systems Consultant
'www.openhardware.net', 'www.cyberiansoftware.com'
"Windows? No thanks, I have work to do..."