[Sussex] A rant on using different distributions

[Matthew Macdonald-Wallace]

OK,

I've recently installed a variant of Debian (Damn Small Linux) onto my 
laptop. I run Gentoo on my Server.  Out of the two, I have always heard 
it said that Debian (and debian-based distros) had a better package 
management system than Portage, and that they were more straight forward 
to install and use.

I've now re-installed DSL (Damn Small Linux) three times onto this 
laptop because I couldn't get it to install the packages I wanted it to. 
  Now that I've got the distro up and running, I've been playing with 
apt.  so far my impression is this - it's crap.

Here's a little example of how to install in Gentoo vs how to install in 
Debian:


Gentoo:

emerge -s packageName
emerge packageName

Debian:

apt-cache search packageName
apt-get install packageName



Why do I need to use two seperate tools to find and then install a 
package???


Error reporting in Gentoo is great.  It gives proper error messages like 
"This package will not be installed because it is blocked by package x. 
Please remove that package before installing this one."

Debian simply said "This package depends on package x, but it's not 
going to be installed".  WHY THE F**K NOT? TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO DO TO 
STOP THIS HAPPENING!  DON'T JUST TELL ME YOU CAN'T DO IT! [1]

My advice from now on to anyone that cares to take it is this:

If you want a small footprint that is quick to install but completely 
non-sensical to maintain, use debian.  If you're willing to wait for the 
added stability and tuning that compiling your own software through an 
easy-to-use, understandable command-line interface ( and let's face it, 
with the speed of machines that are out at the moment, it's not a huge 
difference!) use Gentoo.

/me stands down from soap box, dons flame-proof jacket and fdisks every 
debian mirror he can find...

Matt

[1] Sorry about going all "AOL" on you there, it just really gets to me...
M