30 Days of Geek: 09 – What OS/distribution do you run?
I’m a user of UNIX-like operating systems of different persuasions. On my laptop I run Max OS X 10.6. I’m not hugely attached to the Mac platform, for example the vast majority of applications I run are Open Source, or sufficiently generic that I can find Linux-based alternatives at the drop of a hat.
At home, I run Debian GNU/Linux’s “Testing” distribution. I like Debian, firstly because of APT/Aptitude, which makes delivering updates reasonably easy. However, these tools are available in a great many distributions now. The reason I use Debian over, say, Ubuntu is that Debian’s quality control protocols ensure that updates work correctly enough of the time that updating packages on a daily basis is not usually a dangerous process.
The “Testing” distribution’s policy with respect to release-blocking bugs means that the distribution is stable enough for everyday non-critical use, and that updates are reasonably timely.
Bring on the Red Hat/Gentoo trolls!