Slicehost Forum - So many distros...how do I manage?

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-08T01:56:59+00:00

A running joke around our office is how Microsoft has like 12 versions of Vista...yet there a 85,000 versions of Linux! Ok, that's a joke...there is a kernel and different "packages/distros" but you get my point.

Anyway, I would like to find a method that would basically allow me to pick any distro, auto-install my software (python 2.5, Django SVN, etc) without having to do it all by hand. What's worse is that every distro is usually lacking some obscure library or the python that comes on distro A needs the library updated but distro B doesn't....etc.

Is there anyway I can make this easy?

In fact, I would be happy with settling with ONE distro. But I wished I could just run "InstallApps" and all of my stuff would be installed no matter what was missing on the distro.

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks for any suggestions!

cbmeeks
http://codershangout.com

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-08T03:38:39+00:00

Most of the modern linux distribution have package management systems that automate installation and dependencies and do exact what you are talking about.

Debian and Ubuntu use apt package management. example #apt-get install apache2
That all you have to do to install Apache. There are several gui version to allow the user to graphically select a package and install. Example being aptitude.

Centos uses yum as its package management. Its very similar to apt, yum install httpd
Also I believe you can use apt with Centos as well.

Gentoo uses the portage package system. This has to be one of the cooler package systems in my option. It does not really distribute prebuilt binaries, it distributes automated method to get and compile from source code and manages the dependencies automatically as well and you will compile everything that you need. Interesting part is how it manages the source dependencies, and it does this across a huge array of different architectures. emerge apache to install apache. Be warned everything is compiled, and something take a long period of time to compile. kde gnome ..

The commands on yum and emerge maybe missing a switch or so, but they will all manage dependencies for the packages you are installing. You normally do not have to download and rpm/source code/or anything to install an application. But not installing is the only thing guaranteed, configuration is still required, and every distro has it own quirky configuration process and procedures.

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-08T06:42:13+00:00

Another distribution that you may consider is Arch. I’ve been using Ubuntu for years but after using Arch for the last couple of weeks, I’ve fallen in love. One advantage that Arch has over other distributions is that packages are kept very up to date. Arch has its own package management system called Pacman.

Also, if you can’t find something you need in the official repositories, there is a user contributed repository that will probably have what you’re looking for. Example: Django SVN was updated yesterday (search for it here) and it looks like it’s updated with the latest SVN changes about every week or two.

One drawback to this distribution is that it is geared towards those that are a have some experience with Linux already. However, there are some great guides to get you started and the Arch community is very helpful.

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-08T13:59:43+00:00

Thanks. I'm actually pretty familiar with yum and apt. See, that's actually my problem. I install a new slice (or VirtualBox machine) with any particular distro and then I have to go through the talks of yum this yum that.

II believe I have a lot of Linux experience (been using it since Slackware 3.0) but I guess I've always done things the hard/manual way. Maybe I should research better ways to use the many tools out there.

I will give Arch another shot. I got turned off with Pacman because I saw it as yet one more tool to learn but that is really a good thing. I heard a Linux podcast this morning and the guy was just raving about Arch so maybe I will give that a shot and just STICK WITH IT. (Instead of switching so much).

Maybe then I can develop some tools to make new installs better. I think I like the idea of rolling installs...

Thanks!

cbmeeks
http://codershangout.com

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-08T17:36:00+00:00

I agree with prionux; I’ve been using Ubuntu for a while now and decided to give Arch a try last week and fell in love. Extremely lightweight and simple, and to me, even easier to use than Ubuntu. I’ve been keeping a log of notes on how I’ve gone about setting up my system and configuring everything. Perhaps I should add them to the Wiki when I clean them up a bit, since it seems there’s no tutorials/guides yet for Arch here.

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-09T01:05:03+00:00

From personal experience. I would say list out a few of the major distro's. Then from that find the one that has the best documentation for exactly what you want to do.

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-09T04:47:21+00:00

cbmeeks:

I heard a Linux podcast this morning and the guy was just raving about Arch so maybe I will give that a shot and just STICK WITH IT. (Instead of switching so much).

Can you share this podcast's website with us? I'd like to listen and hear why this guy is raving about Arch so much!

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-09T05:27:23+00:00

The podcast was the Linux Reality episode 70.

Very nice podcast for all things Linux.

cbmeeks
http://codershangout.com

So many distros...how do I manage?

2008-02-10T10:37:17+00:00

"the linux live tech show" guys had an interview with the arch project lead not to long ago too. heh