Re: Pkg-based base system.

On Thu, 18 Mar 2004, Tim Kientzle wrote:

> Rahul Siddharthan wrote:
> >Richard Coleman wrote:
> >
> >>But I don't think anyone is advocating Linux-style granularity of 
> >>packages.  Most people just want a little finer granularity to handle 
> >>bind, sendmail, dhcp, and maybe openssh.
> >
> >Yes, and nobody is suggesting removing anything from the base system,
> >merely making it easier for the end-user to remove unnecessary base
> >components.
> 
> You don't have to remove one thing to use something else.
> 
> Many FreeBSD systems use alternative software without
> touching the base system.  Just disable the base components
> in rc.conf and run your own.  You can also "upgrade" any
> existing piece by installing a newer port and disabling the
> pieces in the base system.
> 
> In the particular case of sendmail, look at the mailwrapper
> functionality, which simply redirects the standard "sendmail"
> name to your favorite MTA.  It's been in FreeBSD since 4.0
> and makes it quite trivial to use any MTA you like instead
> of the built-in sendmail.
> 

I never thought I'd hear someone advocating bloat in open source
software, but that is essentially what you're saying.

Sure, I _can_ just install multiple packages which do exactly the same
thing, and turn the ones I don't want off, but it is nice to have the
_choice_ not to have to install the default one, but to use my favourite
instead.

But I think I've done this bikeshed before, so I'll try to refrain from
commenting further on this thread...

-- 
David Taylor
davidt_at_yadt.co.uk
"The future just ain't what it used to be"