Hello...

[Martin Jackson]

leam wrote:

>> Thanks for the quick reply.
>>
>> Should I post the init script here?  Or is there a better place for 
>> that sort of thing?
>>
>> As a footnote, the mysql/php thing kind of sucks but that's the price 
>> you pay for integration. :)  I'm looking at rebuilding xfree 4.3.0 
>> from source for the second time in two days on my gentoo laptop 
>> (security updates), though it handles the mysql/php problem quite 
>> nicely -- as long as you've got hardware that handles lots of compiler 
>> time well. :)
>>
>> Gentoo is a very interesting experiment in this arena but I think 
>> people in general prefer convenience to ultimate flexibility 
>> (especially when it costs in terms of convenience).  I'm still on the 
>> fence on that point...
>>
>> Marty
> 
> 
> I'm working on some php in another window and need the e-mail for a mind 
> break.  :)
> 
> Probably posting here would get a critical review and hash out any 
> issues. Then maybe post it to bugzilla? I must confess to being a 
> mediocre coder at best and seldom have answers; just issues.   :)
> 
> I sat on the fence but then my butt started to hurt. My question was 
> RHEL or Fedora, and I've resolved it by looking at where I spend my 
> time. Or rather where I *want* to spend my time. A friend asked me to 
> help sysadmin some customers as side work. For a company I recommend 
> RHEL, and I have that as my desktop so I can build solutions i know work 
> on client's machines. My decision was less based on cost (businesses can 
> pay a few $$ to RHAT) or performance (small businesses can buy faster 
> machines cheaper than they can pay me to debug a bleeding edge problem) 
> than just realizing I like to spend what few brain cells I have making 
> production machines more boringly stable and recoverable. Others can 
> kernel code to their hearts content; it's not my strength and once I 
> quit trying to pretend it was I found life more enjoyable.
> 
> So for you the question is the same; do you like to recompile Gentoo 
> every few days or are you actually trying to get something else done?

My solution (so far) is that for home use I prefer gentoo (I like 
tinkering with things; compiling is not strictly necessary for that but 
it facilitates things because of the dependency issues that come up with 
things like PHP, perl, and python) but at work I use Red Hat (currently 
8), along with a variety of crusty commercial Unices, which I mostly 
don't like (though they all support Perl so it's not a total loss).  I 
greatly enjoy coding -- primarily admin-type scripting, and I would like 
to contribute some things back to the community that has given me so much.

I'll post the init script here, look for comments, and then attach it to 
the bugzilla ticket (which is still there, from July 2002).

Thanks,
Marty