Did someone compare the number of ports with packages in Linux distros?

[Chris Benesch]

On 3/18/2013 8:55 AM, Dag-Erling Smørgrav wrote:
> Chris Benesch <chris.benesch at gmail.com> writes:
>> Lets take gcc for instance.  To install gcc on BSD, you need the gcc
>> port and a few support packages, such as readline, gettext, intl,
>> etc... but thats it.  On Linux you need gcc, gcc-devel, gcc-headers,
>> kernel-headers, gcc-libs, a whole lot more complex.  The difference
>> comes from a basic philosophical difference.
> Yes and no.  FreeBSD ships headers, static libraries, debugging symbols
> etc. as part of base, and as part of each package.  Most Linux
> distributions ship these separately and don't install them by default.
> However, it's not as complicated as you make it out to be: just run
> 'apt-get install build-essentials' (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint) or 'yum
> groupinstall "Development Tools"' (RHEL, Fedora, CentOS).
>
>> BSD IMHO seeks to be truly open source, [...]
>> Linux seeks to straddle the line of open and closed source.
> Neither statement is correct, and the issue is far too complex to be
> summarized in two sentences, or even two paragraphs.
>
>> The GPL is overly long and convoluted if anyone bothers to actually
>> read it instead of just saying yes.
> It's as long as it needs to be to express what its authors wish it to
> express.  If you're in a hurry or have a short attention span, just skip
> the preamble and stop when you get to the disclaimer of warranty.
>
>> The answer lies in the marketing.  Linux and its rebellious beginnings
>> appeal to people better than BSD for some reason, when in actuality it
>> was a guy from Scandinavia experimenting with the new 386 processors
>> vs. a group that was there when Unix was originally invented.
> Neither characterization is correct.
>
> (BTW, I'm "a guy from Scandinavia", and so is one of the founders of the
> FreeBSD project)
>
> DES
The last time I did any Linux sys admin stuff was back before yum and 
apt-get, so it looks like things have improved.  I didnt mean to sound 
geographically prejudicial, just my impression since the 90s and early 
2000s.  Heck I'd love to go see the northern extremes of Europe 
someday.  Honestly every year I do an upgrade where I get invovled in 
all of it for a few weeks, then go quiet while the box silently and 
flawlessly runs next to me.

We are on the same team, and I cant thank the whole team enough for 
making and continuing to maintain the extraordinary software I myself 
and tons of people have come to rely on daily.  Politics really isnt my 
thing, I write code for a living.  Maybe I should just stay there.