Hi Art,
Looks like you're new to the world of RHEL and Clones.
First thing to remember we (the Scientific Linux community) didn't take
anything out of RHEL, so if you want to ask why thing's were taken out,
ask RedHat, because we didn't do it, and some things we just don't know.
Now you arn't actually asking that, it looks more like you are asking
why some things are put in, when other's weren't. And where to get
other packages that weren't included.
First: Why were some things added and not others?
We first wanted to put in as few extra packages as possible. This is
because the more packages we add, the more work it is for us. We have
to keep up on the security aspects for each of these packages.
So we had to look at if there was a good alternative, the past security
problems with the packages, and if the code was really being maintained.
Some, like pine, were really obvious, RedHat didn't include it because
of it's license, but I believe about 20% of the users at Fermilab use
pine, or at least used to. So we found a good place to get it from, and
included it.
Some, like midnight commander, had security holes you could drive car's
through. I didn't want to have to worry about maintaining that, and
have the responsibility of someone's machine being hacked be on my
shoulders.
Second: Where to get packages that weren't included in S.L.?
https://www.scientificlinux.org/community/repo/
This list several repositories with packages that are compatible with
Scientific Linux 3.0.x, and/or Scientific Linux 4.x.
We actually have those mirrored at
ftp://ftp.scientificlinux.org/linux/extra/
if we have a better connection for you.
Also, you could check CentOS, and see if they might have a package you
don't find with those.
Although we are not compatible with Fedora, many of the Fedora packages
can be recompiled to work with Scientific Linux if you really need to.
Just remember that Fedora Core 1 packages tend to compile ok with
Scientific Linux 3.0.x, and Fedora Core 3 packages tend to compile ok
with Scientific Linux 4.x.
I hope that answers the majority of your questions, but I'll comment of
a few ...
Art Wildman wrote:
> Anyone know where a package might be to restore the missing 'tree'
> command in RHEL3.7. IIRC it is also missing on Fedora & some RH clones
> though there are 'extra' repo packages that support it. Tree is also
> missing in my SL 3.05 install... I'm using the following tree.sh script,
> but would rather have it builtin via a package.
>
> # up2date install tree #returns nothing
>
Please don't use up2date on Scientific Linux. It is only included
because other packages require it. Use yum instead.
yum list tree
yum install tree
man yum
> # man tree
> http://www.die.net/doc/linux/man/man1/tree.1.html
> # tree.sh script
> http://www.centerkey.com/tree/
>
> From the command line what do you use to recurse a dir tree? I'm
> wondering what obsoleted these very basic & useful tools? What other
> common utils do you miss & would like included in RHEL/SL?
>
> What extras other repos can be safely added to RHEL3.5 or SL3.5, where
> are these extra repos?
> Fedora 1 extras compatible with RHEL3?
> Fedora 4 extras compatible with RHEL4?
>
> The RH Manuals errata pages list "Changes to packages", but don't always
> explain why packages we removed or are no longer supported. Links to
> other information on missing commands, utils and apps would be welcome.
>
> http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-3-Manual/release-notes/as-x86/RELEASE-NOTES-U3-x86-en.html
> http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/release-notes/as-x86/RELEASE-NOTES-U3-x86-en.html
>
We cannot link to points inside www.redhat.com, it's a legal thing. And
it's not just redhat that we can't do that to.
> The release notes to SL are very informative about which apps & packages
> are included
> https://www.scientificlinux.org/distributions/4x/42/sl.release.note.42.i386
>
> MISC
> Added these rpms because they are important but upstream vendor did
> not include them.
>
> gv-3.5.8-29.i386.rpm from Fedora Core 3
> jpilot-0.99.7-2.i386.rpm from Fedora Core 3
> ncurses4-5.0-12.i386.rpm from Scientific Linux 3.0.x
> pine-4.62-1.SL.i386.rpm from Dag's Repository
> readline41-4.1-17.i386.rpm from Scientific Linux 3.0.x
>
>
> Installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 - Missing Packages
> http://www.slac.stanford.edu/comp/unix/linux/install_rhel30.html#known_issues
> "Missing packages. A number of packages that were formerly included in
> Red Hat Linux distributions have been dropped from Red Hat Enterprise
> Linux. Typically this was done when there were concerns that a package
> was no longer being well-maintained upstream or because it was felt that
> an alternative package provided improved functionality."
>
> These include:
>
> Dropped package Possible Alternatives
> galeon Mozilla
> Epiphany (from Fedora & RHEL 4 candidate)
> gv ggv, xpdf
> lynx elinks
> mc konqueror, nautilus
> ncftp lftp
>
>
>
> Midnight Commander (mc) and ncftp are also missing... are these packages
> still poorly maintained or obsoleted? MC is useful when navigating and
> performing complex file operations from a terminal and ncftp seems
> superior to lftp in features.
>
> [user]$ which ncftp
> /usr/bin/which: no ncftp in
> (/bin:/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin)
>
> [user]$ lftp --help
> Usage: lftp [OPTS] <site>
> `lftp' is the first command executed by lftp after rc files
> -f <file> execute commands from the file and exit
> -c <cmd> execute the commands and exit
> --help print this help and exit
> --version print lftp version and exit
> Other options are the same as in `open' command
> -e <cmd> execute the command just after selecting
> -u <user>[,<pass>] use the user/password for authentication
> -p <port> use the port for connection
> <site> host name, URL or bookmark name
>
> --
> Art Wildman - [log in to unmask] - [log in to unmask]
> National Weather Service Office - http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jax
> Insanity is... repeating the same mistakes, while expecting different
> results. -Anon
I do miss some features of ncftp, (ncftpget) but there are also features
in lftp that are very nice, such as scripting.
Again, I didn't take them out, redhat did.
Troy
--
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Troy Dawson [log in to unmask] (630)840-6468
Fermilab ComputingDivision/CSS CSI Group
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