Seeking good web sites for Debian tools

[Sean Perry]

C Poda wrote:
> 
> Now I'm adding to my toolbox & would like to find some good resources 
> to  help me decide which s/w to install & learn, eg:
> 
> Version control: subversion vs CVS?
> 

this one is easy. Pretty much **ANYTHING** is better than CVS. Use 
subversion, arch, monotone, darcs, whatever for a month. Then try cvs 
again. See Linus' recent discussions about searching for a new SCM now 
that they can not use BK.

For me, decentralized is preferred. I currently use darcs for personal 
projects but it has a ways to go for work projects.

damn shame about bk. It is a good tool. Larry is just not an easy man to 
deal with.

> Domain name server: bind v9 vs djbdns?
> 

learn bind. Most every Unix / Linux house uses it. Security can be dealt 
with.

> Firewall: Linux netfilter-iptables vs openBSD packet filter?
> 

try both. See what works for you (-: The joy of open source is the 
ability to experiment.

Personally, if you have a Linux shop adding BSD is not worth the extra 
effort and learning. Consider learning and using BSD it is a viable 
alternative to Linux.

Circa 1999 there really was a performance difference in the Linux v. BSD 
network stack. Linux has since caught up. Note that many companies now 
use Linux in their routers, firewalls, wireless gateways, etc.

pf is cool and powerful and well written. But do you really need all of 
that extra power? netfilter is mighty strong and is not that hard to use 
or understand. The Newrider book "Linux Firewalls" is definitely worth 
reading.

> Sys admin: Is cfengine worth the effort to learn & use?
> 

kinda curious about this myself. I currently use a hand brewed SCM 
solution (SVN at work, darcs at home).

Again, do you have to maintain 10 machines? 100? 1,000? My number is 
<20. So I have a repository for each system's /etc and package list. 
When I setup a new machine I do:

install Debian base
dpkg --set-selections < package_list
apt-get dselect-upgrade
cd /root
$SCM get $host

Over the years I have grown paranoid about having the .cvs / .svn / 
_darcs in /etc so I hand copy / update the files.