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Old 7th March 2011
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by c_moriarty View Post
When I install Fedora 14 right now and update it it has 850+ updates.
...
When I had NetBSD installed, I just let the vulnerable packages be installed and waited for at least 3 days and nothing had changed except one update to Python, which still left it with a vulnerability.
Again, there are a number of fallacies to your argument.
  • Software updates do not get published only as a result of identfied software vulnerabilities or identified solutions. Software updates can occur because some other piece of software has been updated, & this cascades into a number of libraries, etc. needing to be updated as well. Red Hat apparently does this piecemeal -- releasing updates as they are deemed ready. The *BSD projects tend to aggregate applications changes to formal releases.
  • Most Linux distributions attempt to emulate Windows in being a complete desktop environment -- meaning that a lot of extraneous applications have been installed which the user doesn't know about. Many of these "updates" are upgrading applications which are not even being used.

    In contrast, most of the *BSD family are installed in a minimalist fashion & the user must consciously add chosen applications. While this does not mean that the user will understand all that is added, there is a higher probability that they have some idea. More fundamental to this thread, the number applications potentially needing updates is smaller. The 850 number originally quoted doesn't necessarily translate. It really appears that you are comparing apples to oranges.
It appears that you have made up your mind & are more comfortable with the piecemeal policy implemented by many Linux distributions. Great. This is your choice. Choice in the marketplace is a good thing, but I challenge you to look at this list of 850 updates & answer whether these are all pertinent to your particular situation.

Last edited by ocicat; 7th March 2011 at 03:31 AM.
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