[Distutils] Re: CPAN functionality for python

[Will Ware]

On Mon, 26 Feb 2001, Guido van Rossum wrote:
> So far my experience with Windows
> installers is much more positive than with RPMs though -- RPMs forever
> seem to depend on some version of some other RPM that you don't have.

John J. Lee (phrxy at csv.warwick.ac.uk) wrote:
> Surely this is a function of free vs. non-free software as opposed to
> which particular packaging format you are using?

Mebbe not. I read something recently, referenced in a Slashdot article
IIRC, which claims that apt-get (the Debian distribution's equivalent to
Red Hat's RPM installer) handles this much better. Where the RPM system
will inform you about dependencies but insist that the burden of resolving
them falls to you (and heaven forbid that _those_ packages have unmet
dependencies; exponentially-nightmarish upgrading ensues), apt-get will
seek out the required packages for you, and whatever packages they may
require, in a painless manner like "make". In order to do this, apt-get
needs an internet connection and a list of places to look for stuff.

-- 
-----------------------------------+---------------------
 22nd century: Esperanto, geodesic | Will Ware
 domes, hovercrafts, metric system | wware at world.std.com