Re: [gentoo-dev] Re: [gentoo-web-user] Hardened PHP now in Gentoo

[Josh Glover <jmglov@gentoo.org>]

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Quoth foser (Wed 2004-05-19 01:30:00PM +0200):

> On Tue, 2004-05-18 at 21:08 +0100, Stuart Herbert wrote:
> 
> > I'm pro-choice, and do not agree with the idea of aggregating USE flags just 
> > because they sound similar.
> 
> The second time you mention choice. I guess we know what Gentoo is about
> by now, the 'choice' argument is too often used just to end criticism.
> 
> Choice is an illusion, if you there's too much choice it is no use to
> anyone anymore, because nobody really knows what it is all about. This
> is already the case with the loads of USE flags/portage options/etc. we
> have. Gentoo shouldn't be about choice for the sake of it, it should be
> about simplicity/managability : stuff that works. It's a trade-off.

That is ridiculous. Speaking from personal experience, choice is exactly
what drew me to Gentoo--I could have it *just* how I wanted it. Thus,
choice is *not* an illusion, it is vital to many advanced users who
have chosen Gentoo for just that reason.

The way to achieve "simplicity/managability : stuff that works" is
through reasonable defaults. Look at all the USE flags that xfree or
xemacs use. Quite a glut. However, the defaults are almost always what
I need. If I care enough, I can run 'equery uses' to find out what the
more esoteric flags do, and select or deselect flags based on that.

If I want things to Just Work(TM), I accept the Gentoo defaults,
knowing that the devs would never lead me down the wrong path. :)


-- 
Josh Glover

Gentoo Developer (http://dev.gentoo.org/~jmglov/)
Tokyo Linux Users Group Listmaster (http://www.tlug.jp/)

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