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Before yum and dnf, dependency hell is a serious issue indeed. After that it's still a problem if you use multilib (sometimes updates get pushed for x86_64 but

Before yum and dnf, dependency hell is a serious issue indeed. After that it's still a problem if you use multilib (sometimes updates get pushed for x86_64 but the i686 packages are missing) but I wouldn't really call it a dependency hell anymore.

knieveltech 10y ago
Seriously. Weekend long marathons of dependency chasing (in the snow, uphill both ways) to finally get config/make/make install to run were not only a thing but disturbingly commonplace. These kids don't know how good they've got it. God I feel old.
- dTal 10y ago
  At least you had a package manager with a reasonable number of packages. My first distro as a main OS was Puppy Linux because it was a small download (remember dialup?) Actually at the time I didn't even have internet in my apartment, so installing software went something like this: 1) Identify a really interesting piece of software, like OpenFOAM, with (unbeknownst to me) lots of dependencies 2) Take a half hour walk to the local library with my shiny 4gb flash drive (89 dollars, a Christmas present to myself). 3) Download the .tar.gz of the software. 4) Walk home. 5) Unpack the .tar.gz and run ./configure. Watch it fail. 6) Walk back to the library to download the missing dependency. Walk home. 7) Goto 5. I ended up very irritated that configure always fails on the first missing dependency, instead of comprehensively listing the missing requirements in one go. Things did get a bit easier when I learned to scour the documention for any libraries referenced, but of course reading the docs still often required a trip back home to unpack the tarball...
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- keithpeter 10y ago
  You could recreate the experience for younger colleagues using a slackware install and deliberately not using any of the more advanced tools (slackpkg+ &c) and hiding the existence of slackbuild scripts.
- a3n 10y ago
  It feels so good to not have to look at that book with the guy on a horse, to get networking going every time I installled a new distro, or sometimes upgrading. Especially because I usually didn't know what I was doing to fix the issue, I didn't even know what I was looking for. Thanks to everyone who did read that book and others cover to cover (or wrote them), so that my linux install just works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Network_Administrator's_Guide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Network_Administrator's_...
  - dredmorbius 10y ago
    That's no horse, that's a nag!

knieveltech 10y ago

Seriously. Weekend long marathons of dependency chasing (in the snow, uphill both ways) to finally get config/make/make install to run were not only a thing but disturbingly commonplace. These kids don't know how good they've got it. God I feel old.

dTal 10y ago
At least you had a package manager with a reasonable number of packages. My first distro as a main OS was Puppy Linux because it was a small download (remember dialup?) Actually at the time I didn't even have internet in my apartment, so installing software went something like this: 1) Identify a really interesting piece of software, like OpenFOAM, with (unbeknownst to me) lots of dependencies 2) Take a half hour walk to the local library with my shiny 4gb flash drive (89 dollars, a Christmas present to myself). 3) Download the .tar.gz of the software. 4) Walk home. 5) Unpack the .tar.gz and run ./configure. Watch it fail. 6) Walk back to the library to download the missing dependency. Walk home. 7) Goto 5. I ended up very irritated that configure always fails on the first missing dependency, instead of comprehensively listing the missing requirements in one go. Things did get a bit easier when I learned to scour the documention for any libraries referenced, but of course reading the docs still often required a trip back home to unpack the tarball...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
keithpeter 10y ago
You could recreate the experience for younger colleagues using a slackware install and deliberately not using any of the more advanced tools (slackpkg+ &c) and hiding the existence of slackbuild scripts.
a3n 10y ago
It feels so good to not have to look at that book with the guy on a horse, to get networking going every time I installled a new distro, or sometimes upgrading. Especially because I usually didn't know what I was doing to fix the issue, I didn't even know what I was looking for. Thanks to everyone who did read that book and others cover to cover (or wrote them), so that my linux install just works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Network_Administrator's_Guide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Network_Administrator's_...
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  That's no horse, that's a nag!