Do I have to have a distro?
by jhumphrey from LinuxQuestions.org on (#5DA4X)
So I learned of the news of CentOS changing direction and decided that I want to loosen any ties with Red Hat.
As an OpenBSD user and a 9front user who likes the gopherspace, one might ask why I am even using a RHEL based product.
The fact is I have hardly any idea why. I liked yum better than apt-get so that is probably the main reason. I dislike systemd I vastly prefer rcctl(8),it has cat -v as opposed to the more correct vis(1) and uses the GRUB bootlader.
In fact, I dislike almost everything about CentOS, and yet I like CentOS for reasons I can't explain. I also run DOS so that might answer a few questions.
So after that long intro and apology for compromising the sacred UNIX(R) values, I will present my question.
What happens if I don't update CentOS?
What happens if I never issue a `yum update` again? (and yes I know it is dnf now)
What if I work with it as I would work with a Linux From Scratch? What is instead of `yum install` I used `make install`
Is there any reason this is a BAD idea? The main thing I can think of is security. But if I was concerned about that, I wouldn't have DOS.
This is a personal computer, and I browse in a modern browser (surf(1) or firefox generally, though I do use links sometimes)
I have a content blocker, and I am behind a router. additionally, I don't browse as root. And am not a high profile individual or member of the Maphia.
As a result, is not updating still dangerous? I don't mind doing extra work. Also, I don't mind building the Linux kernel from source as I have done so before.
Or is this my big chance to get free of the evils of the RHEL world and go to something more inline with UNIX(R).
I know some are Devuan fans, but I don't like the Debian infrastructure, specifically `apt-get` even though I started out on Raspbian. I would go exclusively with OpenBSD as it is the best system I have used (with all due respect to 9front.) but it doesn't run Zoom.
(And yes I know that Zoom isn't FOSS, but unfortunately, my contacts have paid for and insist on using it.)
I do not fault OpenBSD for not including zoom, but sometimes I have to compromise my beliefs to continue to exist in a meaningful fashion. You can judge me for that if you want.
I do notice zoom includes a tarball for Linux, in addition to the RPM and DEB formats. So I thought that I might be able to run it on some non-standard distros.
Having had experience building gcc (I am not sure I ever finished) I don't like the thought of building it from source. st, dwm, and even Motif are easy to build from source, but not the GNU userland.
(Not that it is hard, but it is long and bloated.) So if I decided to stick with my current setup I might be interested in switching package managers (NetBSD's caught my eye.)
So I don't know if this is a proper question, but let me summarize it in a more terse format:
Thanks for taking time to look at the question!
As an OpenBSD user and a 9front user who likes the gopherspace, one might ask why I am even using a RHEL based product.
The fact is I have hardly any idea why. I liked yum better than apt-get so that is probably the main reason. I dislike systemd I vastly prefer rcctl(8),it has cat -v as opposed to the more correct vis(1) and uses the GRUB bootlader.
In fact, I dislike almost everything about CentOS, and yet I like CentOS for reasons I can't explain. I also run DOS so that might answer a few questions.
So after that long intro and apology for compromising the sacred UNIX(R) values, I will present my question.
What happens if I don't update CentOS?
What happens if I never issue a `yum update` again? (and yes I know it is dnf now)
What if I work with it as I would work with a Linux From Scratch? What is instead of `yum install` I used `make install`
Is there any reason this is a BAD idea? The main thing I can think of is security. But if I was concerned about that, I wouldn't have DOS.
This is a personal computer, and I browse in a modern browser (surf(1) or firefox generally, though I do use links sometimes)
I have a content blocker, and I am behind a router. additionally, I don't browse as root. And am not a high profile individual or member of the Maphia.
As a result, is not updating still dangerous? I don't mind doing extra work. Also, I don't mind building the Linux kernel from source as I have done so before.
Or is this my big chance to get free of the evils of the RHEL world and go to something more inline with UNIX(R).
I know some are Devuan fans, but I don't like the Debian infrastructure, specifically `apt-get` even though I started out on Raspbian. I would go exclusively with OpenBSD as it is the best system I have used (with all due respect to 9front.) but it doesn't run Zoom.
(And yes I know that Zoom isn't FOSS, but unfortunately, my contacts have paid for and insist on using it.)
I do not fault OpenBSD for not including zoom, but sometimes I have to compromise my beliefs to continue to exist in a meaningful fashion. You can judge me for that if you want.
I do notice zoom includes a tarball for Linux, in addition to the RPM and DEB formats. So I thought that I might be able to run it on some non-standard distros.
Having had experience building gcc (I am not sure I ever finished) I don't like the thought of building it from source. st, dwm, and even Motif are easy to build from source, but not the GNU userland.
(Not that it is hard, but it is long and bloated.) So if I decided to stick with my current setup I might be interested in switching package managers (NetBSD's caught my eye.)
So I don't know if this is a proper question, but let me summarize it in a more terse format:
- How wise/safe is it to not use a current distro?
- What package managers would best fit the purpose? Or is make better?
- How difficult would it be to dump systems in favour of a different init system?
- Are there non-linux kernels that are compatible with Linux systemcalls and other expectations? Would Zoom run on these?
- What pennace would I be doing for running RHEL?
Thanks for taking time to look at the question!