Featured Comments: Week of 2011 July 10

There were a handful comments on a couple of posts this week, so I'll repost most of them.

The Future of Various Linux Mint Editions

Reader T_Beermonster said, "As Axel notes you can use PPA's with a debian testing based system. Obviously the problem with ppa's is that many of the packagers will assume you are running ubuntu offering only the opportuity to guess which ubuntu release is closest to your own system and so sometimes they will have a dependency on a package that is in the ubuntu repo's but not yet in debian testing. Your third point doesn't seem to be a point. The reason for switching the KDE base to debian seems to be exactly the same as the reason for switching the fluxbox and xfce base. Maintaining the ubuntu base was taking too much effort so they switched to a debian base that they find easier to maintain."
An anonymous commenter had this to say generally about KDE and Ubuntu: "Canonical has problems. Both Xubuntu and alternate panicked on my Athlon x4 (can't handle page fault) while Mint10 has no problems. If Canonical can't get it together soon they are due for a fall. And I'm seeing a surge in interest in XFCE and LXDE, so the KDE4 and Gnome groups should take heed or be left by the wayside."
Reader Glenn Greenfield said, "Personally, I had zero interest in Mint until the Debian based release came out and I hope to see all future efforts expended on a nice Debian based Mint with all support for Ubuntu dropped. Another thing...... It's unfortunate that we must continually explain this: Ubuntu and Debian are binary incompatible (Ubuntu's choice) There for Ubuntu ppa's are NOT compatible w/ Debian but they are a sure fire way to break your system."
Commenter Nick said, "If Mint moves from Kubuntu base to Debian base then I'll go back to Kubuntu straight away. Period. No negotiations. And another thing - even with the world's most used OS (Windows), upgrading is a last resort and a fresh install is recommended. You only upgrade on server systems where installed apps can't be installed again and user data is already in place etc. So Ubuntu forking from Debian often is actually preferred." I'm not sure I agree with that point about upgrading: just because Microsoft Windows does it doesn't make it right.

On the Current US Deficit and Debt Crises

Reader Lyle had this tip: "This article from USA Today puts things in better perspective: http://usat.ly/p3sRRS"
Commenter dick had this counterpoint: "What you seem to forget is that the Republicans have been in this circumstance with the Democrats before and the result has always been that the tax increases fly through just fine but for some reason none of the spending cuts get through. What Cantor and the others opposing Obama are really saying is get the cuts done, approved and in place and then we will talk about the tax increases. You need to check your history on this one. See Reagan with Tip O'Neill, Bush I with Tip O'Neill, Bill Clinton with Tip O'Neill, Bush II with Pelosi - and that is just in the past 25 years. The Democrats will talk a compromise but the only thing that seems to happen is the tax increases, never the spending cuts. In the current situation the spending cuts are the things that really need to happen. There has to be a limit on how long the nation can keep on spending what it does not have on programs that are failing before the crisis really clicks in and that is what Cantor, Ryan and the other Republicans are talking about. Besides they have seen this president in action and he truly is not to be trusted in what he says because it does not translate into what he actually does. All presidents are like this to some extent but this one is far more so than any in my lifetime and I go back to FDR."
Reader T_Beermonster said, "Lexington in this week's economist does a good summary: http://www.economist.com/node/18958711 Points 4 and 5 are I believe the most significant. Politicians find it hard to see beyond the next election - and the next election for most of them is not the one in 2012, but the primaries (which for most means only the most partisan end of their party membership)."

Thanks to all those who commented on this past week's posts. This coming week, I can guarantee at least one Linux distribution review; hopefully that'll be two. In any case, if you like what I write, please continue subscribing, commenting, and sharing!