Re: gEDA-user: 2 make errors installing gwave

[al davis <ad151@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

reply in pieces...

On Friday 30 November 2007, Robert Butts wrote:
> I don't know if I went with the wrong distribution when
> selecting Fedora.  A freind suggested it because they were
> rumored to have good support.  In hind sight I probably
> should have asked everyone here, the gEDA gurus, what is the
> best distribtion to use with gaf since this is the reason I
> started using linux.  Oh well, if this is unrecoverable, and
> I'm hoping it isn't, then consider the question out there!

Explicitly asking here will get you a flood of "this one is 
better than that one" without any reason why.  Rather, you 
should "implicitly" ask ..  by observing.

The simple answer to "which distribution" is "use the one your 
friends are using".   More reasonably, check to see which ones 
best support the applications you want to run.  Since this is 
gEDA, check the distributions to see what they support.  See 
how up to date the packages are.  Check the headers on the 
email messages of the people making the software to see what 
they use.

You need to choose between "stable" distributions and "unstable" 
distributions.  If you don't care about having the latest, or 
are willing  to build from source to get the latest, choose 
a "stable" distribution.  If you want the latest, easily, 
choose an "unstable" distribution.  If you want to keep up with 
development as it happens, you will be building from source 
anyway, so it doesn't matter.

You need make a base choice about the packaging.  Some are based 
on packages that are precompiled.  Some are "source based", so 
the package manager really just tames the build process, 
compiling on your machine.

Consider what it takes to update to a new version of the 
distribution.  For some, you need to reinstall, so it will seem 
like you are always stuck with an old one.  Others, a simple 
command can keep it up to date, without a reinstall.  I would 
consider only distros that can be updated to the latest version 
with a simple command.

Consider what kind of organization is behind the distribution.  
Some are corporate, some are totally community, some are mixed.

Consider what the inclusion policy is.  Some are very strict 
about "free".  Some cut a little slack.  Some have categories, 
so the core can be strict, and have an extra section with a 
little slack, or a lot of slack.  Some freely 
include "non-free", which in this scope means what the MS 
people call "free", or "zero-cost propriatary".  Some 
applications may or may not be there because of this policy.  
You will not get a correct answer by expilcitly asking this 
question.  You must determine it yourself by what packages are 
included and where they are placed.

Most have both stable and unstable variants.  If you install 
stable, you should be able to switch to unstable with a simple 
command.  Sometimes you can do a partial switch.  Sometimes the 
way to get to unstable is to install stable and switch.

I deliberately didn't mention names.  You need to figure that 
out for yourself.  To choose a good distribution, ask these 
questions.  That will point you to the one you want.




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