ray carter wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2013 20:29:54 -0400, Juan Wei wrote:

ray carter has written on 7/31/2013 8:21 PM:
What I would do - would be to install Debian. YMMV


Why Debian over the others, say Ubuntu?

I like the stability and the fact that release cycles are longer.

"release cycles" - part of that, is the availability of working repositories.

When a "release" is no longer supported, they turn off the repository.
The repository holds 15000 applications, for immediate download
(binaries) via a package manager.

It wouldn't cost anything, to leave those repositories running.
I expect there are a few users, who would like that. They mumble
about "security", but I think that's up to the users to decide.

If you didn't have a repository, you'd have to build from scratch
(assuming you could find a source snapshot from the same point in time).

I'll give an example of why this might be important.

I have a Ubuntu (7.04 or so) CD. At the time, if I installed that,
I would be able to download a working copy of TVTime application.
It takes my BT878 TV tuner card, and allows me to watch TV in
Linux. It has both working sound and video. Sound is via ALSA.

Now, roll forward to Ubuntu 11-13 range. UBuntu 7.04 repository is
turned off. If I install 7.04 today, I could not get a copy of TVTime.
I might not even have enough developer tools loaded, to bootstrap
myself. (I think I had a problem like that, while doing something
in 7.04 a couple years ago.)

If I "upgraded" to Ubuntu 13, there is a repository, but Ubuntu 13 uses
PulseAudio (an "improvement"). PulseAudio broke the sound in TVTime.
No developer wanted to fix the sound subsystem (the job probably
isn't all that difficult, if you had a basic understanding of how
to port ALSA applications to PulseAudio - I don't). Now, when I visit the
Repository of UBuntu 13, download TVTime, I get video but no sound.

Such is the nature of Linux.

The only thing that works in Linux, is the "new and shiny".

I'm not one for listening to music on the computer that much, but
a number of other PulseAudio issues, ****ed off music fans when
PulseAudio came out. Like someone's favorite player no longer
working right.

Similar "improvements" came out with a certain system bus implementation.
At one time, hardware was discovered and actually worked. It was
replaced by some other thing, that yes, it did discover hardware.
But, that new subsystem could die, leaving you with a non-working
keyboard and mouse in the middle of a session. (No, plugging in
another keyboard or mouse will not help.) Resetting your Linux box is
fine, with a journaled file system, so at least you won't be
hurting anything when your reset button is the only working
control input.

The single biggest threat to Ubuntu lovers right now, is the
plan to replace XWindows as the underlying GUI. I can imagine
the carnage in the 15000 app Repository now :-( Maybe, a TVTime
with no video or audio :-( But I bet it would still be in the
Repository.

Ubuntu is popular, which is why it comes up in conversations.
But you don't have to chase whatever Shuttleworth comes up with,
in terms of strategies. All that is needed, is an alternative
distro, with user control. Such a distro was Gentoo, but it
seems to be missing a certain polish these days, and I wouldn't
dare suggest it as an alternative to anyone. The first time
I used it, the install went fault-free (if you could follow
a well written recipe, you could do it for yourself). Everything
worked. Now, the dependency issues in the software, are a nightmare.
The beauty of Gentoo, is I can turn off PulseAudio at build
time, and have a working TVTime. That's the beauty of Gentoo.
Everything is built from source, while you watch. It might
take ten to fifteen hours of compiling, to build a working
desktop onto an empty hard drive. And your TVTime could
have ALSA if it wanted. No need to fix it.

*******

As for the "download an ISO, burn a CD", you can actually
order copies of Linux CDs (or DVDs). This would be an option
for people not on broadband. In some cases, there are shops
on the Internet that carry more than one distro.

http://shop.canonical.com/index.php?cPath=17

As an example of that, I bought a FreeBSD release a number
of years ago, and a box of CDs was shipped from a supplier,
all ready to go (I got install and source in the box). So
you don't have to struggle, to get installer media. There's
always someone out there somewhere, who'll do it for you.

Paul