Re: [gentoo-dev] Gentoo 1.4.1 and GRP

[Sven Vermeulen <swift@gentoo.org>]

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On Mon, Sep 15, 2003 at 02:30:29PM -0400, Brad Laue wrote:
> I was going more for the manageability aspect - drop Gentoo in place
> inside 30 minutes, update to the latest GRP packages, then begin
> optimizing - I'd like to think of myself as an advanced user, and I'd
> really find it traumatic to have to wait 56 hours for my Athlon XP to
> rebuild from stage1 into GNOME 2.4 and get myself back to a functional
> workstation.

I'm sure you've tried Debian or any other distribution then, because that's
exactly what they do. They provide you with a quick and easy installation of
binary packages. For the packages you want optimization, they provide an easy
way to create packages for it.

If I want my system to return to Gnome 2.4 after some crash, I use my
backups. If I install Gentoo, I know that I have to wait a certain amount of
time, but thats what I expect from a source-based distribution. If I want a
quick installation, I'll use a different distribution.
 
This is a harsh state of mind, but I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking
like this.

> > This is something that all distributions deliver: binary packages and an
> > "easy" way to source-compile packages but keep them in the database. If
> > Gentoo would go the same way, we are neglecting the source-based stuff.
> 
> How so, beyond what we currently do with GRP?

I dislike GRP too. I feel that it takes (development) resources from us that
could be invested in more innovative projects. I feel that GRP is an effort
to reach more users instead of focussing on what Gentoo really was about
several months back. 

I like to make the comparison with security-based projects. Their main goal
is to create a secure distribution/program. They will never try lowering down
that vision to get more people to use their distribution/program. 

With security, saying "no" is easy because it is a strong subject. With
source-based vs binary this is less easy.


I must say, this is a personal opinion that I do not integrate in my work for
Gentoo (just to set the record straight).

Wkr,
	Sven Vermeulen

-- 
 ^__^   And Larry saw that it was Good.
 (oo)                                      Sven Vermeulen
 (__)   http://www.gentoo.org              Gentoo Documentation Project

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