On Nov 14, 2007 4:50 PM, jeffrey d anderson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> On Wednesday 14 November 2007 14:40, Paul Johnson wrote:
> > > While perhaps not as widely know as RPMForge,
> > > http://www.alcancelibre.org/al/el/5/SRPMS.al/
> > > http://www.alcancelibre.org/al/el/5/RPMS.al/ seems to have
> > > gnumeric-1.6.3-1.9.el5.al.i386.rpm which implies they somehow got it to
> > > build..
> >
> > I agree, this is a promising repository.
> This works for me:
>
> [al]
> name = Red Hat Enterprise $releasever
> baseurl = http://www.alcancelibre.org/al/el/5/
> enabled = 0
> gpgcheck = 0
>
> Obviously if you keep the 'enabled = 0' line you have to enable it at the
> command line ( yum --enablerepo=al ... )
>

Wow.  This one is very handy.  It has many of the RPMS I was planning
to build for myself.  It appears to be, basically, the RH-EL versions
of kernel and other vitals like glibc, and then updated versions of
some of the more useful programs, and those updates roughly parallel
the Fedora distribution.  Yesterday I spent about an hour building the
Thunderbird from Fedora 8 on this SL system.  I could have saved the
hassle because it is in Aalcancelibre. I see the newer firefox there
as well.

I would say this repository should be  a must-have for SL users,
except for some concerns. Put that together with EPEL and we are
making a lot of progress.

I have a couple of worries.

1. I don't speak spanish and so I can't monitor conversations about
this distribution or read its website.  Is it a more-or-less permanent
project?  Why arent' there any mirrors of that distribution?

Maybe it is too good to be true?  It reminds me of when the Gnome 0.5
development was going on and a server in Mexico popped up offering
RPMS of yesterday's CVS for all the Gnome packages. Eager users like
me jumped on that site like drug addicts, and then when that site
closed down unexpectedly, we were left with a Gnome setup for which it
was impossible to get upgrades.

2. Perhaps they are too aggressive rebuilding too many packages.  I
would be reluctant to do a full update against that server because it
would amount to re-installing almost everything except the kernel. My
SL5 system was updated last night. Compared to that, look at the
updates offered on AlcanceLibre:

Resolving Dependencies
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Package freetds.i386 0:0.64-6.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package evolution.i386 0:2.12.0-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnomecanvas.i386 0:2.20.1.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnome-devel.i386 0:2.20.1.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXv.i386 0:1.0.3-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libart_lgpl.i386 0:2.3.19-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gtk2-engines.i386 2:2.12.2-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package pango-devel.i386 0:1.18.3-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXaw.i386 0:1.0.4-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXdmcp.i386 0:1.0.2-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package totem.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnomeprintui22.i386 0:2.18.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libpng-devel.i386 2:1.2.23-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-user-docs.noarch 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package autoconf.noarch 0:2.61-8.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package expat.i386 0:2.0.1-2 set to be updated
---> Package ipw3945-firmware.noarch 0:1.14.2-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXevie.i386 0:1.0.2-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libtheora.i386 0:1.0beta1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXtst-devel.i386 0:1.0.3-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXcursor.i386 0:1.1.9-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package mesa-libGL.i386 0:7.0.1-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXau-devel.i386 0:1.0.3-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libnotify.i386 0:0.4.4-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package SDL.i386 0:1.2.11-2 set to be updated
---> Package goffice.i386 0:0.2.2-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package expat-devel.i386 0:2.0.1-2 set to be updated
---> Package createrepo.noarch 0:0.4.10-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-icon-theme.noarch 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-keyring.i386 0:2.20.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libpng.i386 2:1.2.23-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-panel.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package at-spi.i386 0:1.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgtop2.i386 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-backgrounds.i386 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXt-devel.i386 0:1.0.4-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXt.i386 0:1.0.4-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package samba-client.x86_64 0:3.0.25b-1.el5.2 set to be updated
---> Package gnome-desktop-devel.i386 0:2.20.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package hdf5.i386 0:1.6.5-7.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXxf86vm-devel.i386 0:1.0.1-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package atk-devel.i386 0:1.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-vfs2-devel.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libxml2-devel.i386 0:2.6.27-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXaw-devel.i386 0:1.0.4-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package goffice-devel.i386 0:0.2.2-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package mesa-libGL-devel.i386 0:7.0.1-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXpm.i386 0:3.5.7-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package pango.i386 0:1.18.3-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-panel-devel.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package SDL-devel.i386 0:1.2.11-2 set to be updated
---> Package nss.i386 0:3.11.7-0.7.2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package tcp_wrappers-libs.i386 0:7.6-44.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package tcp_wrappers-devel.i386 0:7.6-44.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXScrnSaver.i386 0:1.1.2-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package control-center.i386 1:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-fonts-Type1.noarch 0:7.2-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXScrnSaver-devel.i386 0:1.1.2-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-mag.i386 0:0.14.4-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-utils.i386 1:2.20.0.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gtksourceview-devel.i386 1:1.8.5-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package perl-HTML-Tagset.noarch 0:3.10-2.1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnome.i386 0:2.20.1.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package qt4-devel.i386 0:4.2.3-10.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gtkglarea2.i386 0:1.99.0-7.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gamin-devel.i386 0:0.1.8-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package cyrus-sasl-devel.i386 0:2.1.22-6.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package avahi.i386 0:0.6.17-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package startup-notification.i386 0:0.9-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gtk-doc.noarch 0:1.8-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libfontenc.i386 0:1.0.4-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package avahi-glib.i386 0:0.6.17-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package ORBit2.i386 0:2.14.10-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-media.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libpurple.i386 2:2.2.2-1.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libxslt.i386 0:1.1.20-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libxkbfile.i386 0:1.0.4-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package GConf2.i386 0:2.20.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package devhelp.i386 0:0.16.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-xtrans-devel.i386 0:1.0.3-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gtkhtml3.i386 0:3.16.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXTrap.i386 0:1.0.0-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package freetds-devel.i386 0:0.64-6.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-vfs2.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libsoup.i386 0:2.2.102-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package sqlite-devel.i386 0:3.3.13-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gstreamer.i386 0:0.10.14-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXcomposite-devel.i386 0:0.4.0-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXvMC.i386 0:1.0.4-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXfont-devel.i386 0:1.3.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-server-Xorg.i386 0:1.3.0.0-29.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnomeprintui22-devel.i386 0:2.18.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package samba-common.i386 0:3.0.26a-0.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXi.i386 0:1.1.3-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libglade2-devel.i386 0:2.6.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-filesystem.noarch 0:7.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-fonts-75dpi.noarch 0:7.2-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package cyrus-sasl-lib.i386 0:2.1.22-6.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libxklavier.i386 0:3.2-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package firefox.i386 1:2.0.0.8-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package nautilus-cd-burner.i386 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libglade2.i386 0:2.6.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libbonobo.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package tcp_wrappers.i386 0:7.6-44.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package avahi-qt3.i386 0:0.6.17-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package eel2-devel.i386 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gail-devel.i386 0:1.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package metacity.i386 0:2.20.0-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXinerama.i386 0:1.0.2-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXcomposite.i386 0:0.4.0-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXfont.i386 0:1.3.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package evolution-exchange.i386 0:2.12.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package cyrus-sasl-plain.i386 0:2.1.22-6.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package redhat-menus.noarch 0:8.9.10-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-fonts-100dpi.noarch 0:7.2-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgsf.i386 0:1.14.7-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package samba-common.x86_64 0:3.0.25b-1.el5.2 set to be updated
---> Package libXdamage.i386 0:1.1.1-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXfontcache.i386 0:1.0.4-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package evolution-data-server-devel.i386 0:1.12.1-1.9.el5.al set
to be updated
---> Package gnome-themes.noarch 2:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXcursor-devel.i386 0:1.1.9-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gstreamer-plugins-base.i386 0:0.10.14-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-desktop.i386 0:2.20.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package system-config-display.noarch 0:1.0.51-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXft-devel.i386 0:2.1.12-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXext-devel.i386 0:1.0.1-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-doc-utils.noarch 0:0.12.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package nspr-devel.i386 0:4.6.7-0.7.1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnomecanvas-devel.i386 0:2.20.1.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libIDL.i386 0:0.8.9-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package wireless-tools.i386 1:28-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXxf86vm.i386 0:1.0.1-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-fonts-truetype.noarch 0:7.2-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package mesa-libGLU.i386 0:7.0.1-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnomeprint22.i386 0:2.18.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package glib2.i386 0:2.14.3-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXres.i386 0:1.0.3-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXTrap-devel.i386 0:1.0.0-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package glib2-devel.i386 0:2.14.3-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXmu.i386 0:1.0.3-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gamin.i386 0:0.1.8-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gtksourceview.i386 1:1.8.5-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gtk2.i386 0:2.12.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package pilot-link.i386 2:0.12.1-6.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package NetworkManager-glib.i386 1:0.6.5-7.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXdmcp-devel.i386 0:1.0.2-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libsysfs.i386 0:2.1.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXdamage-devel.i386 0:1.1.1-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXvMC-devel.i386 0:1.0.4-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libX11.i386 0:1.1.3-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package nautilus-extensions.i386 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXtst.i386 0:1.0.3-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package pcre.i386 0:6.6-2.el5.1.0.1 set to be updated
---> Package libXext.i386 0:1.0.1-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXevie-devel.i386 0:1.0.2-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package pidgin.i386 2:2.2.2-1.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package nss-devel.i386 0:3.11.7-0.7.2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXau.i386 0:1.0.3-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgtop2-devel.i386 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXrandr-devel.i386 0:1.2.0-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXfixes.i386 0:4.0.3-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnomeui.i386 0:2.20.1.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package nspr.i386 0:4.6.7-0.7.1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libdrm.i386 0:2.3.0-7.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package sqlite.i386 0:3.3.13-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package pcre.x86_64 0:6.6-2.el5.1.0.1 set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-fonts-ISO8859-1-75dpi.noarch 0:7.2-3.9.el5.al
set to be updated
---> Package libbonoboui.i386 0:2.20.0-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package hicolor-icon-theme.noarch 0:0.10-2 set to be updated
---> Package gtkglarea2-devel.i386 0:1.99.0-7.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXrender-devel.i386 0:0.9.4-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXres-devel.i386 0:1.0.3-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package GConf2-devel.i386 0:2.20.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package ORBit2-devel.i386 0:2.14.10-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package rarian-compat.i386 0:0.6.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libgnomeui-devel.i386 0:2.20.1.1-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gtk2-devel.i386 0:2.12.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package eel2.i386 0:2.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package evolution-data-server.i386 0:1.12.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libX11-devel.i386 0:1.1.3-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXrender.i386 0:0.9.4-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXft.i386 0:2.1.12-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-fonts-ISO8859-1-100dpi.noarch 0:7.2-3.9.el5.al
set to be updated
---> Package gnome-pilot.i386 0:2.0.15-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libart_lgpl-devel.i386 0:2.3.19-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXfixes-devel.i386 0:4.0.3-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libwnck.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package cairo.i386 0:1.4.10-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package atk.i386 0:1.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package alacarte.noarch 0:0.11.3-4.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package automake.noarch 0:1.10-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXmu-devel.i386 0:1.0.3-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package perl-libwww-perl.noarch 0:5.805-1.1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libbonoboui-devel.i386 0:2.20.0-2.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libxml2.i386 0:2.6.27-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libbonobo-devel.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gail.i386 0:1.20.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package pirut.noarch 0:1.3.7-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package qt4.i386 0:4.2.3-10.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package pygtk2-devel.i386 0:2.12.0-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package gnome-menus.i386 0:2.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXfontcache-devel.i386 0:1.0.4-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package librsvg2.i386 0:2.18.2-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package at-spi-devel.i386 0:1.20.1-1.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libXrandr.i386 0:1.2.0-5.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package libdrm-devel.i386 0:2.3.0-7.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package xorg-x11-fonts-misc.noarch 0:7.2-3.9.el5.al set to be updated
---> Package net-snmp-libs.x86_64 1:5.3.1-19.el5.1 set to be updated
-- 
Paul E. Johnson
Professor, Political Science
1541 Lilac Lane, Room 504
University of Kansas