any use to build from source?

[Geert Hendrickx]

Optimization and speed are indeed an arguable advantage of compiling
from source, but another GREAT advantage is the possibility of setting
compile-time options and dependencies.  I.e. lots of packages have
options which can be enabled/disabled only at compile time.  For
example whether you want Vim with the GUI-version or not (in that case
it would have a lot more dependencies, such as X and GTK).  

Of course the package maintainers try to choose useful defaults, but
they may not suite *your* specific needs.  

Also the version of binary packages may be a little behind on the ports.  
So if you want Firefox 0.9 TODAY, you'd have to compile it yourself.  

I compile most of my programs from source, just for fun.  

GH


On Fri, Jun 18, 2004 at 08:29:12PM +0200, Patrick Useldinger wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I must say that I was initially interested in the idea of building 
> software from source - but I am kind of loosing it.
> 
> Certainly, it allows you to compile with the compiler options you want, 
> you are able to optimize the binaries for your CPU, but: does it really 
> matter? Are the speed improvements really visible?
> 
> Dependencies was another argument: you compile with the correct headers 
> of dependant files, well... is that really so? If you upgraded the 
> dependant binaries, wouldn't you get the same effect?
> 
> One certain drawback of compiling from source is the compilation time. 
> Large packages like KDE or OpenOffice take ages, so you can't just 
> "quickly" upgrade a whole system, or a large part of it. I might add 
> that I am more the typical desktop user, not using my machines for real 
> and specific server apps.
> 
> So, my question is basically: did you, in your experience, find that 
> compiling from source *really* has any serious advantages that make up 
> for the time it takes?
> 
> -PU
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