RPM Rant (was: Re: Evolution on RedHat 7.2)

[Craig White]

On Thu, 2002-01-24 at 07:22, Tom Achtenberg wrote:
> I disagree, it should be the end product people who package any supplementary file their product needs together.  I would not expect MS to include everything a Symantec product would need, that would be Symantec's job.  The same should hold for Linux.  If I write a program I should not expect Red Hat, Debian, SuSE or any of the others to have what my product needs, I should include it.  The fault here clearly lies with poor product management by Ximian.
> 
----
Ximian has several schemes for loading itself on your system...

Magic carpet

or

the shell script that Sundar reported (I had never heard of that)

or (gasp)

their professional desktop with support that you can purchase

Your notion that linux 'lacks' something is absurd because this wasn't
even a considered product when it was released and even the release you
are trying to install is in an experimental / non-supported area.
Moreover, the problem with dependencies is simple - the parts and pieces
are assembled by an integrator such as RedHat and work together, when
you try to add on something new, and it requires parts that are newer
than those that exist, they must be updated too.

The thing about linux is that it does require that you learn how to make
some of the things work and if you want everything to mindlessly run -
out the box then windows is indeed the easier path. I have struggled
with many things (openldap is a huge example) that have been absolutely
painful and required an unbelievable amount of time to learn in linux
but I see the knowledge gained as the ultimate payoff. Thus, when
tackling anything such as installing unsupported upgrades, you have to
decide if you are willing to go the distance for the experience of
it...because if you learn how to do evolution now, you would be better
prepared for the certain nightmare of the eventual release of KDE 3 -
otherwise, you will have to wait for a distro to come out with it
already integrated.

Craig