Binary incompatibility of Linux distributions

[Michael M. Moore]

On Thu, 2009-05-21 at 11:09 -0400, anthony baldwin wrote:
> Dotan Cohen wrote:
> >> Everything Linux is a blinking moving target. There has to be a
> >> compromise and if you do not like that, go install Debian stable. They
> >> don't compromise...they just make a release after a decade or two.
> >>
> > 
> > While this comes off as "if you don't like it, then leave" it is
> > actually sound advice. To those who need a rock-solid distro, Debian
> > stable or CentOS is the place to be. Ubuntu is not.
> > 
> 
> Personally, I find it odd that Ubuntu, being supposedly aimed at helping 
> the Windows world to Linux, doesn't focus more on stability and less on 
> cutting edge.
> PCLinuxOS is another good distro for those more concerned with stability.
> 
> I'm considering a move to Debian or Arch, myself...I don't know...

If you're looking for stability, I wouldn't recommend Arch Linux.  Mind
you, it's a wonderful system and a wonderful platform, as much a
"meta-distribution" as a regular distro.  But stable it's not.  Arch is
committed to being bleeding-edge, always, and regularly introduces
packages that will break things on your next 'pacman -Syu.'  Usually,
there is some warning about this, but not always, especially if you
happen to be in the first wave of users who update and then find out
something or another broke unexpectedly.  To use Arch as your regular
desktop distro, you need to keep up with the announcements on the main
site and the forums and be prepared.

Arch is a great distro for people who know what they're doing, know what
they want, or want to learn more about how to bend Linux to their will.
It's lean and uncomplicated, especially in comparison with the
complexity of Ubuntu and other Debian-based distros.  And its package
management is almost on par with apt, though it doesn't have nearly as
many pre-built packages as Debian or Ubuntu.  But it's emphatically not
a distro with a focus on stability.

I wonder if Slackware might be a better fit for what you want.  It
combines the simplified BSD-style init of Arch Linux with a stable
platform.  It also has about the most knowledgeable Linux users around
-- the old saying, "If you want help with Red Hat, as a Red Hat user; if
you want help with Debian, ask a Debian user; if you want help with
Linux, ask a Slackware user" rings true still.

-- 
Michael M.