new distro (and versioning)

[Brian Densmore]

> From: Jonathan Hale [mailto:maclaoch at earthlink.net]
>
> > [snip]
> > checking, after all).  More information and a browsable 
> ports tree can be
> > found at http://www.freebsd.org/ports/index.html.
> >
> > A while back one of the FreeBSD core developers started a 
> project to unify
> > the BSD ports/packages system and make it available for other OSes,
> > including Linux. The site is at 
> http://www.openpackages.org, but hasn't
> > seen much activity for a while.  Which is too bad, since 
> I'd love to be
> > able to use the ports system under Linux and Solaris.  I 
> like it a lot
> > better than other packaging systems I've used including Red 
> Hat, Solaris
> > (SVr4), Debian, SCO, HP, IBM, and DEC/Compaq.
I think the gentoo portage system is supposed to be like the ports
system.
I am not a *nix guru though and don't know what the ports system is
like.

> 
> Thanks for the info... Like I said before, I'm really not all 
> that familiar
> with either... but I was reading about Subversion in a Linux 
> magazine this
> month... and how it's supposed to be better at tracking 
> changes than CVS...
> and thought: "Hey, I wonder if there's something from there 
> that we could
> use..."
I looked at Subversion, but it is still in what they consider to be
pre-alpha (?) stage.
Oh and by the way Brian Behlendorf is one of the project owners. Which
probably explains 
the Apache style license. ;')
It does appear to be probably better suited for this project than CVS
is. Since it will track directory changes, and there just may be some
directory changes over the life of this project.
;')

(I am going to put in a question to the list about using it in a
"production" environment, although from what I read in the FAQ it will
require some babysitting)
> 
> Also, jumping back a few replies to Apt having support for 
> RPM based distros
> like Conectiva (though it won't install .debs on those)... Apt has Deb
> Orphan to help keep things straight... Anyone know if THAT 
> includes support
> for the RPM based distros... or if there's a version of 
> something out there
> that does?
I'd kind of like to use something other than RPM. I'd like to be able to
use apt if possible
or something more robust. My current RPM system is broken in a major
way. I'm going to have to reinstall the OS from the ground up just to
fix it. [grrr..] So I guess that will be the first 
test for the new distro.
I'm looking at using Tiny-X for the install interface, and also as an
option for people running antique hardware. So I guess that opens my
options for gui install tools.

Brian