> > Computers are supposed to be tools for getting useful work done.
> 
> Computers are often toys as well as tools; for some <person,machine>
> pairs, they are toys _instead of_ tools.  (I have not followed this
> line of thought very far; it may end up being irrelevant to the issue
> at hand.)
> 
> > I simply cannot see the act of compiling a large software package as
> > useful work under any circumstanced (OK, outside of testing a C
> > compiler).  At best it is a precursor to using that software package
> > to get useful work done;
> 
> ...for a suitable definition of "useful work".  If your raison d'etre
> is system support, then from your point of view it is useful work in
> itself.

The thing is, doing binary packages and doing a better install system
_doesn't_ prevent you from having fun with your system.  You can still
compile packages by hand to your heart's content, or install every
single bit of the system yourself directly to disk with tweezers.
However, it _does_ enable to vast majority of users -- those who want
to install the system, get running, and start doing productive work --
to get up and running without those headaches.


> > when it is a *necessary* precursor, it is almost invariably because
> > the package is sloppily designed for configurability.  When it is an
> > unnecessary precursor, compiling it yourself is almost always a
> > pointless waste of time.
> 
> Religious views ("binary-only is evil!") aside, I am not going to run
> any software on my machine that was not built from source by someone I
> trust (usually me) and, if remote, communicated by a channel whose
> level of integrity protection I trust.

So, does that mean that you think the sources themselves are "safe"?


Realistically, end-users have to trust someone.  If they can get
pre-built binaries built by "the people who built the OS," then
they're in no less "secure" a position using them then they are in
using the whole OS.


I think what i'm saying here is, you've got a bunch of constraints on
what you want to do with your system and how you want to do it.
That's fine.  But you shouldn't be suggesting that people should
cripple the system for (a much more numerous class of) others.

"If you want to break your own legs, feel free, but don't ask for my
help in doing it and don't ask me to break others' legs for you."  8-)



chris