Quite true. However there are at least three ways to install and
maintain Linux:
o You can install a packaged distribution, and keep installing new
releases of same as they become available. I didn't even know, until
sometime this year, that it could be safe to do this. If you follow
this route, then "I have XYZware 9.2" actually means something.
o You can install a packaged distribution and then apply updates of
individual components (bash, cpio, etc.) as needed. This is what
I've done since 1994 or so. I could tell you that I have
Slackware 1.2 but that would be meaningless -- my system hasn't
much resembled Slackware for ages.
o You can get the parts and roll your own system, updating as needed.
At least "I don't have a distribution" isn't misleading.
I, too, usually skip a posting when first I see "I run Fooblian 6.6.6",
because I don't know what that means -- what version of bazomatic did
they ship with that? I don't know. So I probably can't help.
-- Mark H. Wood, radical centrist mhwood@ameritech.net Having seen what's at the edges of the road, I much prefer the dead armadillos.- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-net" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu