On 15/06/18 17:32, Anton Aylward wrote:
I wouldn't know. I don't use Yast for package management, I use zypper and I can add, remove, lock, unlock multiple packages at the CLI.
That's fine. I can and do most simple maintenance tasks at the CLI. However, if I don't know what a package is called, or I want to manipulate a few separate packages at once, or install a bunch of packages without finding a neat exclusive wildcard, or for whatever reason, I prefer a GUI. I'm happy enough with CLIs but I like GUIs too. Let's say, for instance, that I am experimenting with different desktops. I pick this task as it's a real one I've done recently on openSUSE, Fedora and Ubuntu. I might add the distro's metapackage (or whatever it's called) for Xfce, e.g. apt install xfce-desktop or sudo zypper -n in patterns-openSUSE-xfce (See? Already more complex. With apt I don't need to worry about a package versus a "pattern" -- everything's a package, even if it's just a package of packages.) But that gives me a basic install. If I want to add accessory bits that aren't included, I might run the GUI and search for "xfce", browse the list, tick a dozen, then click "install". What if later I want to remove 5 of the dozen? In Synaptic I would just right-click them, pick "remove" and hit "apply". In YAST I can't do that. I'd have to do it one by one, and for each, click through a series of dialogs if removing xfce-a breaks xfce-b and removing xfce-b breaks xfce-a. For 5 packages, this is a major pain and a 15min job. For 20, it's a nightmare. When I tried to remove KDE this way, I ended up with a non-bootable system and had to reinstall.
I look at the CLI package tools on the Debian, recall the ones I used on Mandrake back when and MUCH prefer zypper!
/De gustibus non est disputandam/. Or /Chacun à son goût/. There can be no argument about taste. These days, I am more used to apt, and IMHO it is the single best packaging system I have used on any OS. But that's just my opinion. I remember when SUSE Linux Pro got apt4rpm and I was delighted. Sadly, again IMHO, it didn't go anywhere, and instead SUSE invented its own recursive depedency-solver. I happen not to know how to drive it very well yet, and to feel that the packaging bit of YAST isn't the equal of Synaptic. But then, overall, having YAST at all more than compensates for that. I have not really used urmpi in anger, and whereas YUM and DNF are fine, I tried Yumex, the recommended graphical wrapper for YUM, and found it terrible.
I'm sure I must have used Yast for some things, but I'm not sure what. Perhaps I'm confusing 'use' with 'experimenting to see what was there'.
As you choose. I am definitely not here to say anyone is wrong.
"Synaptic' as a package manager? Googling I see that it seems more capable than yast. But is there a openSuse version? I don't see one. http://www.nongnu.org/synaptic/links.html
Synaptic is a graphical wrapper for Apt. Apt handles .deb packages via ``dpkg''. Even if there were a SUSE port, it would be little use, as SUSE does not use Apt or dpkg or .deb packages. It uses zypper, ``rpm'' and .rpm instead. -- Liam Proven - Technical Writer, SUSE Linux s.r.o. Corso II, Křižíkova 148/34, 186-00 Praha 8 - Karlín, Czechia Email: lproven@suse.com - Office telephone: +420 284 241 084 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org