[TriLUG] kpilot (Palm Pilot under KDE/Linux)

[Ben Pitzer]

> I absolutely agree.  Package dependencies seem, to me, to be
> the biggest problem facing distributions today.  Debian users
> have been telling us rpm types for years the advantages of apt-get.
> Know what?  They're right!  Absolutely.  The thing I think Redhat
> needs the most is something like apt-get.  Conectiva Linux (out
> of Brazil by the same people that brought you first Afterstep
> and then WindowMaker) has actually ported apt-get to work with
> rpm.  Mandrake has gone a different direction (but working to
> solve the same problem) and created the tool urpmi that does
> pretty much the same thing.  I can only assume (and, please
> if someone from Redhat can set me straight, *please* do so)
> that since Redhat has apparently decided to focus on the server
> market and let the desktop market go by the wayside (which, btw,
> is a valid market decision), and that servers will often 
> go for years using the same software (as long as it's working
> why change, unless there are security problems) that this is why
> Redhat has not addressed this problem before.  Distributions
> that focus more on the desktop, like Mandrake, because of the
> fact that the linux desktop tools are in such a state of flux
> right now absolutely must have a tool that automatically
> figures out dependencies and installs needed prerequisites.
> 
> Note that this is absolutely not meant to be a criticism of
> Redhat.  I am very much in awe of what they have done for
> linux and have the utmost respect for them.  I also realize
> they can't do everything.

As a Debian user, I can testify first hand to the advantages of apt-get
and the ease of installation that is carried with it.  Apt is the
primary reason that I've switched to Debian permamently.  The problem
that I have with Debian is that it fails to provide the
latest-and-greatest apps and versions of apps that are out there.  Case
in point, Evolution.  Evolution is not provided in the Woody apt
sources.  In fact, in order to install Evolution, I had to download the
Evolution binary from the unstable archives, as well as a few others,
including gnome-pilot (which I STILL cannot get to work).  The thing of
it is, however, that even that was not the chore that filling
dependencies under an RPM distribution could be.  rpmfind is our friend,
yes, but apt is our savior.

Now, what is the problem with RH, Mandrake, or SuSE creating an RPM
database which allows apt-get-like downloads, installation, and
dependency fulfillment?  Can't someone write a tool for this?  I'm not
exactly a coder, but it occurs to me that an apt-like tool (with
distribution specific database selection) shouldn't be too hard to whip
up.  Anybody feel up to the challenge?

Regards,
Ben Pitzer
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