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It used to be really easy to junk a Debian system by installing random apps to try them and then uninstalling them. Even with more modern Debian-based systems

It used to be really easy to junk a Debian system by installing random apps to try them and then uninstalling them. Even with more modern Debian-based systems like Ubuntu, installing and then uninstalling something (say, kubuntu-desktop, to pick an example that happened to me recently) does not leave your system in the same state it was before you started. Instead, you get (to a GUI user) bizarre random configuration changes, and programs that worked may now not work (or vice versa!). Basically, as someone who switched back to Linux from Mac recently, Synaptic and the Software Center (and why there are two tools that show different-but-overlapping package sets is another WTF) are full of surprises and why-did-THAT-change?! moments.

rbanffy 17y ago
> It used to be really easy to junk a Debian system by installing random apps to try them Oh.. The 90's... Seriously: I moved to Debian-based distros in 2002 and never experienced anything like what you describe. And mind you I ran testing with packages from sid directly for a couple years.
- randallsquared 17y ago
  Before switching to Ubuntu late last year, the last time I'd used Debian on the desktop was around 2000, so it's true that my experiences with Debian are mostly 90s-era. However, it's still the case with Ubuntu that it's common to install something, try it, and then be unable to get things back to the way they were before (mostly speaking of desktops, WMs, and themes, here). It's not uncommon to allow Update Manager to update things and then find that programs that were working fine suddenly don't work. This happened to me just in the last month with Wine, and happened a while before that with PulseAudio. I have the patience and time to spend a day changing my config until things work again, but it's certainly a ways behind both Mac and Windows in this area. Additionally (while I'm venting), Ubuntu trains you out of reporting bugs because if you actually reported a bug whenever things went wrong, it would be a part-time job. I actually had fewer update problems with Gentoo ca 2003, though at the time I had things to get done and just wanted stuff to work, whereas now that that I don't depend on my home system to make money, I find fixing the problems fun. :)

rbanffy 17y ago

> It used to be really easy to junk a Debian system by installing random apps to try them Oh.. The 90's... Seriously: I moved to Debian-based distros in 2002 and never experienced anything like what you describe. And mind you I ran testing with packages from sid directly for a couple years.

randallsquared 17y ago
Before switching to Ubuntu late last year, the last time I'd used Debian on the desktop was around 2000, so it's true that my experiences with Debian are mostly 90s-era. However, it's still the case with Ubuntu that it's common to install something, try it, and then be unable to get things back to the way they were before (mostly speaking of desktops, WMs, and themes, here). It's not uncommon to allow Update Manager to update things and then find that programs that were working fine suddenly don't work. This happened to me just in the last month with Wine, and happened a while before that with PulseAudio. I have the patience and time to spend a day changing my config until things work again, but it's certainly a ways behind both Mac and Windows in this area. Additionally (while I'm venting), Ubuntu trains you out of reporting bugs because if you actually reported a bug whenever things went wrong, it would be a part-time job. I actually had fewer update problems with Gentoo ca 2003, though at the time I had things to get done and just wanted stuff to work, whereas now that that I don't depend on my home system to make money, I find fixing the problems fun. :)