On 08/07/2012 01:40 PM, Tom Horsley wrote: > So here's one that always leaves me wondering: The #1 original > admin advice that *ought* to be Cargo Cult except for the > fact that it actually works quite often: "reinstall the > program". > > It is recommended far more often on Windows than on Linux, > but I see folks say it on Linux as well, and the totally > absurd thing is that it often works. > > Why should it work? If a computer doesn't work well enough > to do a simple job like copy a few files off some install > media reliably, why on earth would you trust it to run > the (probably) much more complicated program you just > installed? In fact, if copying a few files onto the system > fails so often that reinstall is a standard practice, why > does anything ever work at all? It is a mystery to me :-). Reinstalling a program on Linux is almost always useless. If a "rpm -V" comes out clean, you will not get very far with a reinstall. On Windows it usually works because of poor handling of dependencies and DLL-hell (reinstalling forces your pieces in place again) and because installation and configuration are always blended together [reinstall => lose (damaged) settings]. On Linux, sometimes it works, simply because of side effects: SElinux labeling or post-install scripts which are repairing something. A much more useful thing to do is to delete the settings of the program in your home dir. Better yet, just rename them. If they are too complicated, create a new user and test again; if it works, now start copying your setting to this account and retest until it breaks, so you know where the real problem is. My contribution to the cargo cult list: "do not interfere with my attempts to break everything": - "yum -y" - "rpm --force" - "rpm -e --force" "let's put things which will break at next update (or sooner)": - oracle JVM rpm or tar - nvidia/fglrx driver - vmware modules - interfering stuff compiled from source (php, mysql, httpd, ...) - manual symlinks here and there -- Roberto Ragusa mail at robertoragusa.it -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org
