dragging this back on topic...

[much discussion about dependency hell, installer inflexibility, etc
snipped]

Ok, folks, I think we are starting to repeat ourselves; time to move
on.  Nothing further to discuss here; please don't make me invoke
Godwin's Law.

To sum up: there are multiple kinds of systems.  On a home system
which is probably single-user, maybe the user should be allowed to
screw it up as badly as s/he wants.  On a corporate (or, Universe
forbid, medical) server with hundreds of users, it's a little more
important that things remain stable.  Under such conditions, locking
the system down is probably justified.  Most cases will fall somewhere
in the middle.


Now, dragging us back on topic:

Here's a major Linux annoyance:  too many minor incompatibilities
between distros that add up to major headaches when you want to port
software from one system to another.

Why do I think of this problem right now?  Because  Adam's software,
Boxenv, is designed to solve this problem.  When it installs software,
it actively searches for dependencies (not just in the default,
expected location).

I haven't had a chance to look at it in great depth yet, but I find
the idea very intriguing and I definitely want to devote some cycles
to it.


--Dks