Ubuntu compatibility with Debian?

David Teague teague at jackson.main.nc.us
Sun May 8 22:40:59 UTC 2005


Vincenzo wrote:

> If you use a not-beer-free distro you loose the freedom to modify a
package
> compile options/dependencies.

This is not true. The entire distro is (as it must be) GPL'd so I
can fetch the sources and do exactly the same thing for that distro
that you describe for Ubuntu.

The GPL does not prevent me from selling software that uses the GPL.
It does require that I supply sources for anything for which I have
released GPL'd binaries, at a cost no greater than my actual cost for
sending the sources.  At least that's how I remember the details.

HOWEVER, that I can do this for Ubuntu is a REAL factor in Ubuntu's
favor. There is no clear advantage for either distribution!

I have CDs coming from Ubuntu 5.04. I will retain an install and
a live CD, and distribute the rest to students and the local computer
user group.

Nevertheless, I believe I will buy the not-free-as-in-beer distro. I have
at least two 350 MHz machines with substantial RAM so I will install
both and play for a while.

Many thanks!

David Teague,  http://cs.wcu.edu/~dbt
Advocating Free Software and Double Bass tuned in fifths
www.dennismasuzzo.com;  www.silviodallatorre.com
www.joelquarrington.com/;  For information on Red  Mitchell,
http://home.teleport.com/~mimuma/;  www.larryholloway.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vincenzo Di Massa" <hawk78_it at yahoo.it>
To: "Ubuntu Help and User Discussions" <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2005 6:24 PM
Subject: Re: Ubuntu compatibility with Debian?


> I would not be so worried:
> since debian and ubuntu use the smae packaging tools you can *VERY* easily
> rebuild a DebIan package into an Ubuntu package.
>
> The debian/ubuntu packaging system allows you to:
>
> $ apt-get source <pkg-name>  # Download the package sourcecode
> $ cd <pkg-name-version>
> $ edit debian/control    # Edit the dependencies in this file
> $ apt-get build-dep <pkg-name>  # Download the build-dependencies
> $ debuild      # Build it
> $ dpkg -i ../<pkg-name-version>.deb   # Install it
>
> This is very quick, intuitive and gives you the option to rebuild the
packages
> the way you like best (just edit debian/rules if you want to change
compile
> options). Using yada you can package previuosly unpackaged software in a
very
> similar, quick way.
>
> If you use a not-beer-free distro you loose the freedom to modify a
package
> compile options/dependencies.
>
> Alle 03:47, domenica 08 maggio 2005, Stephen R Laniel ha scritto:
> > On Sat, May 07, 2005 at 09:35:37PM -0400, David Teague wrote:
> > > How compatible is Ubuntu with Debian Stable, Testing,
> > > Unstable, and Experimental? If I choose some package
> > > from say Unstable and install it in Hoary, am I asking for
> > > difficulty?
> >
> > Yes. I can't give any good background reasons for this, but
> > in my experience installing Debian packages under Ubuntu is
> > just a recipe for trouble.
> >
> > Part of the trouble is that Debian packages are looking for
> > Debian dependencies. Deb packages might have version 2.12,
> > and the corresponding Ubu package is called 2.12ubuntu. The
> > Debian package coughs and says, "Wait a second: we need
> > 2.12, and all you have is 2.12ubuntu." So you end up, if you
> > want the package, doing
> > 'dpkg --ignore-depends=[packageName]'. What a mess. I avoid
> > installing Deb packages under Ubu at all costs.
> >
> > > At least one person suggested that Ubuntu's changes
> > > almost amount to "a fork in Debian development." I
> > > believe that is an exaggeration. Please remark on any
> > > features or design decisions of Ubuntu that might have
> > > been a basis for such a remark.
> >
> > The most public comments along those lines were Ian
> > Murdock's (the 'ian' in 'Debian') on his blog. See here
> > generally:
> > http://google.com/search?q=ubuntu+site%3Aianmurdock.com
> >
> > and here specifically:
> > http://ianmurdock.com/archives/000244.html
> > http://ianmurdock.com/archives/000258.html
> >
> > Mark Shuttleworth hasn't yet responded, as far as I know. I
> > don't know what the latest is on Ian's suggestions.
> >
> > --
> > Stephen R. Laniel
> > steve at laniels.org
> > +(617) 308-5571
> > http://laniels.org/
> > PGP key: http://laniels.org/slaniel.key
>
> -- 
> ubuntu-users mailing list
> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
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>






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