[BLUG] Laconica, Enlightenment, and LFS

[Kirk Gleason]

I ran Gentoo for a long time when it first came out (back when it had
old-fashioned version numbers. I still have a stage 1 Gentoo 1.4 cd around
somewhere at home), and I used to love it -- after I got through the 2 days
of compiling software on my celeron 800 MHz at the time.

LFS would totally be for learning ... the boot process in particular is
something that I have always wanted to understand better, and I will admit
that I learned a TON about Linux while doing the gentoo stage 1 builds;
seems like LFS is the next logical progression.

I do think though that I will look at Debian as a desktop distro for a
change.

On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 2:49 PM, Steven Black <blacks at indiana.edu> wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 03, 2009 at 10:06:01PM -0400, Kirk Gleason wrote:
> >   • I just finished installed laconica microblogging service on a Linux
> host
> >     for a pilot program at work.
>
> I once did a quick personal time tracking app which relyied upon the
> fact that I only did one thing at a time, and any time I mark I'm doing
> something new, it implied I was done with the old activity. (This was an
> aid to time-billing for a side project.)
>
> This means that every task had a start time, and the end time was
> implied by the start of the next task. At the end of the day, I'd mark
> an "end" task. I then found the length of time between each transition,
> and tallied up the billable parts. (Really, it was an order of magnitude
> simpler than other time-tracking systems I've seen. 18 lines of BASH, 44
> lines of Python, for 62 lines total.)
>
> The thing is, this same approach is doable with Twitter/Laconica. I've
> been thinking of a Twitter/Laconica-based time-tracking system, but I've
> just never gotten around to writing it.
>
> >   So I have a load of fairly stock linux servers running a bunch of
> > different software (almost all OSS). The fun part is that all of my
> > admins are Windows guys. We have no $$ for extra Windows licenses, so
> > Linux it is. I suppose the most exciting thing I am doing with Linux
> > right now is my own in-house training for all of these admins who are
> > hesitant (or is it stubborn) to embrace linux.
>
> That is super sweet.
>
> I hope more of them embrace it than fight it. Of course, it won't happen
> immediately, but a surprising number of Windows folks have never seen
> any other option.
>
> >   Since work bought me a Mac laptop, I have not run a Linux desktop.
> > However, that itch is starting to come back, so maybe someday soon.
> > Anyone know of any new promising looking distros? Maybe something with
> > E17?
>
> Now, E16 is one thing. It is stable, and should be available as a
> package (called e16) in any Debian-derived distribution. (Speaking of
> which, if you have PPC Macs, Debian may be one of the last Linux distros
> which actively supports them. I found the Debian support better than the
> "community" Ubuntu support last I tried it.)
>
> E17 is another matter, though. It is considered experimental. You can
> get packages for a number of distributions from the website:
>
>    http://www.enlightenment.org/p.php?p=download&l=en
>
> This may be your best bet. However, as that page says "There are no
> guarentees if these packages will work as expected. If you experience
> any problems with DR17 or the EFL using the packages, please first refer
> to the packagers, not to the Enlightenment team."
>
> >   Last thing. I have also been toying with the idea of an LFS system.
> > Has anyone ever done it?
>
> I've done LFS. I went as far as some of the Extended LFS stuff. (That
> is, I completed LFS, and installed other apps which actually made the
> system usable on a daily basis.)
>
> My big problem with LFS is simple: If you use any new software (whether
> new versions, or different apps) and you experience unexpected flaws
> in things you expect to work, the first person to blame is yourself.
> (If you use a distribution, the first person to blame is the package
> maintainer. Since you're the maintainer, you get the blame.)
>
> This is to say: If you treat LFS as a learning experience, then go
> for it. It *is* a learning experience. It is really designed to be a
> learning experience.
>
> Do *not* do it, if you think that it is a short-cut to newer "cutting
> edge" apps, or if you think it is at all feasable for a long-term
> distribution. It isn't designed as a long-term distribution. If you try
> to use it as a long-term distribution, then not only are you claiming
> first responsibility for any bugs you find, you're also claiming sole
> responsiblity for tracking and fixing security flaws. (You'd need to
> monitor security sites, as well as the authors website, then installing
> the patch, recompile, and reinstall. Sometimes, you'd need to track down
> all apps and libraries that link to lib${SOMETHING} and recompile or
> relink them.)
>
> That being said, I think Gentoo, being source-based, is probably the
> current best-bet for a long-term distribution similar to LFS. If you do
> LFS, and decide you have an unhealthy fondness for waiting for compiles
> to finish, you can leverage all your LFS-generated "mad skills" as a
> Gentoo user.
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Steven Black <blacks at indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
> Fingerprint: 108C 089C EFA4 832C BF07  78C2 DE71 5433 8596 FA8E
>
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