Should dependency resolving be made part of basic computer administration skills?
Honestly as a Slackware user I'm very well skilled in this trait and can easily manage my own system, but what about automated package management distributions? Sure you can have a system hold your hand and walk you through in baby steps, but what about that rare case when a dependency is not resolved by the package management system because the package is obscure enough not to have a mainstream dependency file? What then? Honestly, I have ran across some of these. I've had to often do hour long searches on Google and Bing just to find the obscure library that was missing, get it built and installed, and even then track down another dependency I lacked.
So what's the real issue? Learning a valued and very basic skill of PC administration or learning the hard way something isn't supported and having to then learn what to do?
So what's the real issue? Learning a valued and very basic skill of PC administration or learning the hard way something isn't supported and having to then learn what to do?
Total Comments 3
Comments
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In my opinion these not-so-often-needed skills are valuable, because there is always slight chance than you'll need them. On the other hand, outside Slackware world, I guess it's not mandatory, rather something like higher education, because there usually are tools (package management, grub auto-config, ...) which will help you handle these tasks.
I think this proverb sums it up really good:
If you learn Red Hat, you know Red Hat. If you learn Slackware, you know Linux.Posted 09-08-2011 at 09:45 AM by yenn 
Updated 09-08-2011 at 09:50 AM by yenn -
That's exactly right with the proverb.
Teach a man Debian and he will learn Debian, teach a man Fedora and he will learn Fedora, but teach a man Slackware and he will learn Linux.Posted 09-08-2011 at 10:04 PM by ReaperX7
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And for these very reasons I still promote and use Slackware. I've had to teach friends how to build from source packages because their job requires it. I'm not even a sysadmin and because of slackware I have learned far more than they have.
Posted 09-10-2011 at 07:49 AM by Ian John Locke II
