Re: Gentoo: To mirror or not to mirror?

[Nate Reindl <fiction@sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Sun, Feb 23, 2003 at 08:41:11PM -0600, Robert G. (Doc) Savage wrote:
> express), since its release twenty-odd years ago SysV has been steadily
> replacing Berkeley as the Unix flavor of choice. That's a simple,
> undeniable fact. Unless you're into denial for denial's sake. 

I really have nothing all too personal against SysV, but honestly, it
sucks if you're not running AT&T's SysV on the old AT&T 3b2 machines or
whatever else SysV ran on.

But, I prefer BSD (specifically NetBSD) over SysV because of what I just
said.  Plus, the development model seems to encourage perfection and solid
solutions instead of hacks.  Hacks are bad, folks.

> One man's minimalist elegance is another's inadequate. You say tomato
> and I say marinara. Which would you prefer to have over pasta?

s/inadequate/inadequacy/

Over pasta?  Nothing.  I'll have just plain ol' pasta anyday, man.

But, minimalist elegance is something to aim for.  Be as minimalist as
possible without cutting the necessary fat.  Don't add features unless
they're *absolutely* needed, and make sure those features are solid and
foolproof, damnit.

Moreover, I suggest you install NetBSD on a machine you really have no
purpose for and play with it.  The init scripts resemble those that
Richard Gooch developed, albeit not exactly.  NetBSD hasn't run pure BSD
init for at least two versions...

Or, you could go ahead, waste the week, and run Gentoo.

> Nothing personal, Nate, but who appointed you the spokesperson for "most
> people" ? Automatic transmissions are hideously complex inside, but
> "most people" learn how to use them just fine. chkconfig makes managing
> init scripts as simple as PRNDL. If you want real simple with little
> configurability, there is another competitor OS...

Okay.  Here is where I get nitpicky.  I didn't say that most people
don't know how to use them.  Most people don't totally understand why it
is that way.

And, as for that competitor OS thing, could you please be more specific?
There is more than one such OS, it seems.

> Watching your retreating footsteps in the snow....

No sir.  I do not retreat.  Haven't you heard the stories?  I am the
most persistant person you will probably have the chance to see.

.f

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