.._________.__ __ .__
/ _____/| | _____ ________/ |_|__| ____ ____ ____ _____
\_____ \ | | \__ \\_ __ \ __\ |/ __ \ _/ ___\/ _ \ / \
/ \| |__/ __ \| | \/| | | \ ___/ \ \__( <_> ) Y Y \
/_______ /|____(____ /__| |__| |__|\___ > /\___ >____/|__|_| /
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
.___ _ _ _______ _______ ________________
| |_| || |_\ _ \ \ _ \ \ _ \______ \ http://slartie.com/
| \ __ / /_\ \/ /_\ \/ /_\ \ / /
| || || |\ \_/ \ \_/ \ \_/ \/ / Giving you the heads up
|___/_ ~~ _\\_____ /\_____ /\_____ /____/ on everything console.
|_||_| \/ \/ \/
===============================================================================
07 July 2013 -- slartie -- Final NEWSLETTER ISSUE 0007
===============================================================================
===============================================================================
WARNING IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD
===============================================================================
If you're easily offended by foul language or views on a particular
matter, which might not agree with your own, you should probably get the
fuck out of this document right now. Seriously.
===============================================================================
INTRO
===============================================================================
As awesome as I am under normal circumstances, I am still susceptible to
illness, and that's why this issue is late. I didn't feel like writing a
whole bunch of bullshit while having a fever. It might have made for some
really interesting babbling, but I thought better of it.
Feedback to the newsletter is coming in, and I'm seeing a bigger pull for
some more guides. The Mutt guide has been very well received for being to
easy and straight forward.
I'll expand on that guide soon enough. Other guides need to come together
in a working state, so I can get even more thoughts from readers out
there.
Remember to throw me a line from time to time, so I can get a feel for
what's movin' and shakin' out there.
===============================================================================
CONTENTS
===============================================================================
WARNING (It's for your own good)
INTRO (You just came from there)
CONTENTS (You are here)
TOPIC 01: My rant (APT-pinning)
TOPIC 02: Debian Testing (The happy medium)
TOPIC 03: Stable Edge (You're delusional)
TOPIC 04: Links (Places to visit)
CLOSING (Final thoughts)
ABOUT (About the author)
LICENSE (Because we all need one)
===============================================================================
TOPIC 01: MY RANT APT-PINNING
===============================================================================
So you're totally in love with Debian, and have been using it for some
time. It's been a few months since the Debian team released the new stable
version of the distro, and you hear about people using a newer version of
this and that. You start to get a little antsy and wonder when Debian will
update to these new versions, so you can get your hands on them and start
playing around.
After a while you come to the horrible realization that you might be in
for a long wait. Fuck this!
You hone your google skills by looking for solutions. You don't want to
leave Debian, as it has been very good to you, but you just want a newer
version of a few things to tide you over until the distro eventually gets
updated again.
In your search you come across several sites talking about using
apt-pinning. Add extra repos to your sources.list, edit some preferences,
update, and you're all set.
////////////////////////////////+syhddddhhhhyyyyyyyyyhhyys+///////////////
/////////////////////////////+osyhhddhhyyssooooooossssyyyyso+/////////////
////////////////////////////+ssyhddhhyysooo+++++oooosssssssso++///////////
//////////////////////////+ossydddhyssooo+++++++ooooooosssooo++///////////
/////////////////////////+ssyhddhyyssoo++++++++++++ooooooo+++/////////////
////////////////////////osyyhddhysssooo+++++ooooo++++++++/////:://////////
::::::::::::::::::::::/ossyhhhyyssooo+++++++oooo++++/////////:::/:::::::::
//////////////////////osyyyyyyssoo++++++++++++++++//////////::::--:///////
/////////////////////ossyyssssoo++++++++++++++++///////:::::---...:///////
////////////////////+osssooooo+++++++++++++++/////////::::---...`.:///////
ooosssssssssssyssssssoooo+++++++++++++++++///////////:::---.....`.:///////
hhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyysooo+++//++++++++++++/////////::::::----...``.:////////
yyyyssssssssssssssoooo+++++////////////////////::::::::--.....`.::///////:
oooooooooo+++++++++ooo++osss+///////://:::::::::::::::-......``-///////:::
++++/++/++///////+oooso+/+oooo++//:::::::::::::::::---...`````-://////::::
/////////////////+++ooooo////+ooo++/:-::::::::::----...```..-:///////::::-
///////:::::::::/+//:/+osoo+///++++++/::::::::::::-..```...--..:::::::::--
///////////:://///++/::/+ooo+/:://++++//--:-:::/++/-``........-:::--------
//////////////////osso/-://++++/://++/////--::/++:........`.--------------
:::://///+/////////oosyoo+///++++///+++++++/-:++/-............------------
````....--::::::/:://+o+++o+/:/++++ooo++++++////:-.......-...`............
`````````````````./os+////+++++/+++o+++++++++///:-.........``````````.....
``````````````````/osso+/://++oooo+++//++++++/+++:.......``````````````...
`````````````````.///++oo++/+ooo++++++++//++++++//-...````````````````````
``````````````` `-:/:://++ooo+++++/+///////+////::... ```````````````..
..````` ```````` `-::--:/+++///+//////+++///+//::-..` ````````````````
.....```` ` `..----://///////////+/////++/::-. ````````````
........```` .---...-://////////////////+//::. ````````
````````....```` `-----..-:///////////+/////+///:- ``````
``````````````````.......-:/:::::///////////////:` ````````````
`````````````````````````````.-::::::::////////////:.` ``````````````
`````````````````` ` ` `.-::::://////////////:-` ````````
`````````````````````````` `.-:::////:://///////:-`` ````
````````````````````` `.--:://///:::::://::.` ````````````
``````````````````````````````` ````.-::////::::::::--.``````````````````
......`````````````````````````````````-:///:::::--..`````````````````````
..````````````````````````````````````.----:----.`````````````````````````
.``````````````````````````````````...`.----..````````````````````````````
.``````````````````````````````````````...````````````````````````````````
If you give into the temptation of apt-pinning, you've opened yourself to
a world of hurt. For one thing, you will be mixing stable and unstable
(that's the most common setup) which will invariably give you breakages
along the way. As soon as you mix two widely different repos, you will
have problems. Guaranteed!
Then you come to the forums or IRC to whine about library A being skipped
because it isn't compatible with the one you have installed which
something else depends on.
Here's the solution a normal person will give you: Stop using apt-pinning
you fucking idiot. Switch to unstable completely, or GTFO.
That's it really. There may be a few edge cases here and there where
apt-pinning with backports make sense, but if you even have to think about
which edge case that could possibly be, you should leave apt-pinning the
fuck alone.
You don't get to have your cake, and eat it too. At least not without
making a big-ass mess in the kitchen.
===============================================================================
TOPIC 02: DEBIAN TESTING THE HAPPY MEDIUM
===============================================================================
So you took the first rant to heart and realized that apt-pinning might
not be the right direction to go (you don't say!?), so what about stepping
up a little bit from stable to testing.
There at least you get some newer versions and you will feel a little
closer to the bleeding edge while retaining the stable feel of, well,
stable.
Nope.
'Testing. All the breakage, and none of the fun.' - That might be a bit of
a paraphrase from IRC, but that should cover it nicely. (Thanks Pidsley).
I have been using Stable, Testing, Unstable and Experimental, and one
thing you will find in Testing more than any other branch of Debian, is
that testing is more unstable than the unstable branch. Yep.
Don't look at the Debian repo naming as a good indicator. Think of stable
as (we ain't goin' to change shit 'round here), testing as (let's throw
this shit at the wall and see if it sticks), unstable as (hooooooo-wee, we
got all dem blinkenlights and we ain't afraid to use 'em), and finally
experimental as (push dem buttons and see if we can make dis shit go
nuclear).
OR...
Stable - (This works, don't fuck with it!)
Testing - (This might work, let's see if it breaks with... THIS!)
Unstable - (If it doesn't work, get rid of it.)
Experimental - (Fuck if I know. Try it!)
From my and many others' experience, the testing repo will give you more
breakages than the unstable branch will.
Why is this? Well, it might be because the testing branch is actually
meant for just what it says on the tin - testing. When you want to move
something into the next stable release, you will want to make damn sure
that whatever lib you're updating to, works with everything you have, even
if each individual application itself might not be updated for another 5
months.
So you actually test for breakages if you move up a version iteration or
two with libc, gnutls or whatever. At some point the testers will see that
libX actually breaks a whole lot of shit, and they spend the next days or
weeks seeing if updating the dependencies will break something else. And
it goes on from there.
So what do you do? You fucking switch to unstable you nubcake!
===============================================================================
TOPIC 03: STABLE EDGE YOU'RE DELUSIONAL
===============================================================================
Some people really need to get a grip on reality.
You will never, ever, be able to claim that your bleeding edge rolling
release distro is as rock solid as Debian Stable or RHEL. The very nature
of being on the bleeding edge is that breakages occur, bugs are introduced
and shit just flies out the window for no apparent reason.
Yet ... some people will claim just that.
Arch Linux is an example of a rolling release distro that loves being on
the bleeding edge. If Arch was a building, it would be sitting on the edge
of a cliff near a fault line. Whenever a quake hits, and something falls
off, a million special rock munching termites come out to reinforce the
building by regurgitating lava to make struts they tack on to the
cliff. When they see the building will hold, they yell at the fault line
for not trying hard enough, and crawl back inside to do repairs.
Arch has a huge following. It's well documented. People pour thousands of
hours into the distro to make it what it is. It also breaks from time to
time, and users are expected to know how to handle those breakages. If
users start whining, they are shunned and told to go back to Ubuntu.
Where was I? Right.
In the world of Arch, Gentoo, Siduction and so on, you will find a small,
but annoyingly vocal group of people who claim that their bleeding edge
distro is perfectly fine for mission critical server use.
I will now assume the following:
1) You're a retard.
2) You don't actually work with mission critical software in any capacity.
3) You should be on medication.
4) Go buy a 'bleeding edge' car and start drag racing.
5) You won't be reading this because your steering wheel came off.
Stop fucking advocating bleeding edge distros as server software. It isn't
and it never will be.
When shit breaks and your server goes to hell because of it, you're not
going to get any medals for living on the edge. You will most likely be
told to get that crap running again within the next 10 minutes or your ass
is grass.
Ever wonder why RHEL, CentOS, OpenBSD, and Debian are so popular as server
distros? That's because they don't fucking break!
===============================================================================
TOPIC 04: LINKS PLACES TO VISIT
===============================================================================
Stuff I've mentioned in this newsletter deserves some link love, otherwise
you'd have to step out of your comfort zone and use a search engine. Where
would we be if that was required?!
This isn't WikiPedia, so I'm only going to link to stuff I think is worth
looking at.
Arch Linux [ https://www.archlinux.org/ ]
RHEL [ http://www.redhat.com/products/enterprise-linux/ ]
CentOS [ http://www.centos.org/ ]
Debian [ http://www.debian.org/ ]
Gentoo [ http://www.gentoo.org/ ]
Siduction [ http://siduction.org/ ]
OpenBSD [ http://www.openbsd.org/ ]
===============================================================================
CLOSING FINAL THOUGHTS
===============================================================================
This newsletter wound up being a rant-on-rant. That's fine. It's basically
two issues smacked together and cut a bit here and there.
Keep those ideas coming. I enjoy hearing what other people are annoyed
with.
Until next time...
===============================================================================
ABOUT ABOUT THE AUTHOR
===============================================================================
````...-------------......````` Slartie has been working
``...-----::////////:::----....```` with open source software
`...---:://+++++oo++++++//::---....`` and the community since the
`..-:://++ossyyyyysssssssso+//:--...` early 90s.
`.-:/+oossyhddmmmmdddddhyoo+//::-----.` `.`
`.-/+osyhhhdddmmmmmmmdhyyssoo++++/:---.`.+:` He's considered a little bit
`-::/+osssyhdmmmmNNmddddddmmmdhs+///---.:+: crazy by his peers. Mostly
`-::+osyyhdmmmmmmNmmNNNNNNNNmyo++oso/::-/s- because he likes working with
.:/oydmNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNmhsoyddmmdhys/:+s. the console so much.
./syhmNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNmddms//syooydds/++`
`:+ossssssyhmNNNNNNNNNNMmmdyo+os//shds//- His day job is (sadly one
:shdhhyoooyhdMNNNNNmdmmmddNmmdhssyhyo/-` might say) working with MS
.sdo+oyyhdhhmmdhdmdhyyhdNNNNNNNdhhhyo/. Windows clients and servers.
```/yysymNNNNNmddyyddyydmmNNNNNNNNmdhhs/.```
`````.`-osyhmNNNNNmmhsymdysydNNNNNNNNNmmdhy/.````` After hours are spent with
`.....--+yhmNNNNNNMmsoymmhssssdMNNNNNNNNmdy/--...- coding, tinkering, IRC and
:-:--://+ydNNNNNNNMy+ohmdyo+oshNNNNNNNNNmds/::--:- generally being a nerd.
::::::///smNNNNNNNMmddNNNNmmNNNNNNNNNNNNNds/::::::
///////++oyNNNNNhsso++yNMNNho++sso+sdNNNmho//:::/:
+++++++++ooymNNs:--...-/++:-...-:::-:omdhs+//::///
ooooo+ooooo+smh/-://-----:::::/+hho/:-/oo//++///++ You can get in touch using:
ssssoooooosooss/-/yNdhhhhhhmmmmmmmy/-...-:/++///++
ysssssssssssso:..:+hdysssss+++oos+/-.````./++//+++ Twitter: @slartie
yyyyssssssssss:.```.-:///:/++/++:.```````:+o++/+o+ IRC: slartie (FreeNode)
yyyyyysssssyys+.`````.-:/oyyo/:-..`````./+ooo+++oo E-Mail: [email protected]
===============================================================================
LICENSE BECAUSE WE ALL NEED ONE
===============================================================================
Slartie.com Newsletter (c) by slartie
Slartie.com Newsletter is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
You should have received a copy of the license along with this
work. If not, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.
===============================================================================
07 July 2013 -- slartie -- Final NEWSLETTER ISSUE 0007
===============================================================================
Created with Emacs - http://gnu.org/software/emacs/Issue 0007
Issue 0007
Re: Issue 0007
It's so wonderful that I can now read the rantings of an angry dude from Denmark in two places.
So, the question:
"Where's the zsh tutorial you promised 6 months ago?"
So, the question:
"Where's the zsh tutorial you promised 6 months ago?"
Re: Issue 0007
6 months fly by so quickly.
I'm editing a backlog of 8 issues right now. Throwing out some of the shit, putting some less shitty stuff in there.
The zsh one is a bit harder to do than I originally thought, but you'll get it when you get it. So stop whining.
I'm editing a backlog of 8 issues right now. Throwing out some of the shit, putting some less shitty stuff in there.
The zsh one is a bit harder to do than I originally thought, but you'll get it when you get it. So stop whining.
Re: Issue 0007
No hurry, I gave up on you and just installed and started hacking on it. ;)
ls =my_zsh_tutorial
my_zsh_tutorial: No such file or directory.
ls =my_zsh_tutorial
my_zsh_tutorial: No such file or directory.
Re: Issue 0007
Very nice. Just now reading through all of these.