auto configuration systems

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Fri, 2017-04-14 at 16:47 +0200, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Apr 2017 08:25:04 -0400, Tom H wrote:
> > Anyway, whether on Arch or Ubuntu, if a service is installed and not
> > enabled and another depends on it, it'll be auto-started (unless you
> > mask it, but the latter's an extra step).

Note! We were talking about packages, that could one day have an
additional hard dependency, that provides an unwanted service. We were
not talking about a service that requires a new service to work, just
about a package.

> That is wrong! This only happens for Ubuntu and not for Arch Linux. I'm
> customising Linux of several distros since more than a decade now.
> Apart from this service example, Arch provides features that are an
> advantage when customising a Linux install, OTOH Ubuntu has got an
> advantage, if somebody expects an OOTB install that fits to the needs of
> many users.
> 
> Simply compare the Ubuntu package management with the Arch package
> management. What you can do easily with pacman.conf on Arch Linux
> requires much more effort, when doing the same for Ubuntu. The basic
> prerequisites for Arch packages are completely different, to the good
> and to the bad, it all depends on the users requirements. An example,
> Arch packages usually don't include the versions of the required
> dependencies, but just the dependencies without the version information.
> However, to explain why it is good and bad at the same time is
> off-topic, resp. it requires a deep understanding of the different
> policies to understand this and to explain all this is too much for
> this thread.
> 
> Ask at a distro independent list or forum, what distros users prefer to
> customise their installs, you'll notice that Arch and Gentoo are the
> most used distros, for very good reasons.
> 
> Even if you ask what distros are used for some domains, pro-audio comes
> to mind, you get clear answers.
> 
> There was a query on the Linux audio user mailing lists. Most users in
> Linux pro-audio prefer either, Ubnutu or Arch Linux over all other
> distros and most of the experts who tailor their installs prefer Arch
> over Ubuntu.
> 
>