On 01/04/2021 20.54, Per Jessen wrote:
David C. Rankin wrote:
On 4/1/21 4:21 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
I guess it's been too long since I did it, must have forgotten. Thanks David and Carlos.
I also forgot, I have not done that in ages. Which is why I searched my notees ;-)
I have a file, named "programs_for.txt" which contains a list of programs and a short description of what they are for.
In the old days, we learned how to manage Linux. It was all done via text config files and short utility commands. There was one way of doing things (recall make mrproper?).
Just a make target in the kernel Makefile ?
mrproper refers to "Mr Proper", a brand of house cleaner with an intense TV add campaign. I missed the significance for years, because of course, for me the adverts say "Don Limpio": <https://images.app.goo.gl/VoeWksoCrkitczbx7> That makefile target in the kernel sources does an in depth cleanout. At least in the past, it could even erase things added by the SuSE package, thus my comment that it was dangerous to use.
The one config where automation has been stunning is X. No more crafting modelines with xvidtune to transfer to xorg.conf -- it all works by automated defaults (most of the time)
So instead of learning how to admin Linux, much effort is now spent trying to keep track of what each of the new great automated tools does and does not do for you.
There is some truth to that, although I cannot put a finger on much except systemd. What an improvement over sysvinit.
Network systems: wicked, NM,...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the automation. Much of the automation provides a net time savings over doing it from scratch,
Which is the whole idea of having a Linux distribution ... I did once install/build Gentoo on HPPA, that was pretty much from scratch.
Last week, I had a name server crash, in a datacentre some 600km away. The entire hardware had to be replaced, and unfortunately, both RAID disks were history. Installing openSUSE as a xenhost was fortunately easy-peasy, as well a installing a couple of guests, but not much of that was particularly automated. Further down the line I had some routing and bridging issues, but nothing that any automation would have helped much with.
but it has made Linux less about Linux and more about what tools your distro uses to admin it.
I admit I really only do openSUSE. I have tried *buntu et al, but it is too tiresome.
Ditto. That way I know the quirks and tricks. Less effort overall.
In using just about all distros, I'm not sure which is actually the easier route. It has been an interesting ride.
It depends solely on your needs. We use openSUSE in the office, for plain office machines it is quick and efficient to install. Upgrades are easy, it _just_ works. For servers, we are a little more conservative, but openSUSE also just works. For ARM boards, it sometimes takes a little more involvement.
-- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 15.2 x86_64 at Telcontar)