Troels Arvin wrote:
There is a good reason why software package >systems were invented. And that's because >they provide a way to
In an ideal world, this would be true. But this is far from an ideal world. Dissecting:
- perform consistent system administration
Unless, of course, you have more than one distribution of linux, like SuSe, Mandrake, Slackware, etc. This is particularly apparent when using Redhat, which does not use the default Apache directories for anything. Switching from box to box can drive you nuts, when one vendor thinks they know "a better way". Using standard dir structures is consistency, not pinning your system on a single vendor's "better idea".
Further, I would not equate consistent with "blind", since when using RPM's you seldom know what compiler options were chosen by the package maker. And in Apache, PHP, and MySql all three, compiler options are very important.
- prevent software conflicts or missing >dependencies
Ok, use the Apache RPM for Redhat, and try doing any of these things:
1. Install a new module that Redhat hasn't added to a distribution.
2. apply a patch to fix a newly announced security hole. (Redhat can be slow to release these).
- Add some new Admin tool or other.
Using RPM packages makes it easy for neophytes to add software, but equally locks them in to the distribution's RPM releases. Stray from that provided by the Vendor, and you'll rapidly discover what conflicts and dependency problems are really all about.
Save time when? At install? or later on, when you need to upgrade, add software/modules/patches/etc.
Personally, the 5 minutes I save by typing "rpm -Uvh package" doesn't seem like much savings in comparison to "./configure;make;makeinstall" to me.
Experienced system admins seldom install open-source packages without source, and the author's distribution is the de facto standard. Deviate from it, and you're asking for major trouble down the line, unless you know exactly what those differences are, and even then you'll spend a lot of time and energy trying to mate a new package that expects the apache defaults to "/home/httpd/html" instead of "/usr/local/apache/htdocs", etc.
Lastly, I can't imagine an experienced PHP developer even considering using RPM's, since the programmer must know how and with what options Apache, MySql, and PHP were compiled with. Writing bug-free software means not taking anything within the system for granted.
