Right on Jon, As I've said before, I see the whole distro choice thing as similar to dating. Some people, you know right away it won't it won't work out, some you want to get to know a little better and so on. If you have broadband and a burner, go to Linuxiso.org and go nuts. Get a second hard drive (and a set of drive caddies) or cheap second box and drink deep! explore! take chances!
It's the best way to get a sense of the options. Who cares if you're reinstalling a new distro every week! After a while you'll find one you like better than the others (who cares why). That may be the one to explore in greater depth and really get to know. Marcel > -----Original Message----- > From: Jon Copeland [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 12:48 AM > To: CLUG General > Subject: Re: [clug-talk] OT::What are the main Linux Distros > > > Oh wow, I couldn't agree with you more. I eventually got to > a stage, in > my 'quest for linux', where I needed to try out as many distro's as > possible to strike gold upon which flavour I prefer. And > since linux is > all about freedom of movement and choice, I chose Gentoo. It > allows me > to completely customise the software to my needs, no longer > will I have > to deal with the applications that come bundled with the > bigger distros > that inevitably go unused and waste diskspace. > > Rock on Gentoo! > > -j- > > > Andrew J. Kopciuch wrote: > > On Tuesday 02 March 2004 23:13, Kevin Anderson wrote: > > > >>If you have Gentoo, why bother with the rest... :) > >> > >>I'd say Suse, Debian and (unfortunately, Red Hat/Fedora). > round out the > >>list. > >> > > > > > > First off ... it is not unfortunate that Fedora / Red Hat > is a major > > distribution. I was using Red Hat when Mandrake became a > distibution and > > when the first SuSE distribution was released. I believe > that the early > > success of distributions like Red Hat made it possible for > the acceptance of > > others. They are a major distribution, and rightfully so. > (I guess Alan Cox > > likes to work for an "unfortunate company") > > > > > >>I'd give the nod to Fedora as a best first install, because it's the > >>easiest to find dead tree documentation for. (book stores, > etc) It's also > >>the most supported for closed source apps. > >> > > > > > > I would think that any distribution is a good starting > point. You may have > > some problems with your first choice, and you may not. > It's hard to say. It > > all depends on a persons individual level of competance, > and understanding. > > It depends on what someone is looking to get out of the > deal. Choosing a > > linux distro is like an ice cream shop. Pick a flavour. > You like the green > > one ... then go green. You say you've never had green before? > > > > Some people may be expecting lime sherbert, and it turns > out to be avacado ice > > cream. Well ... pick the chocolate one next time! ;-) > > > > <after the fact> > > I just read through the rest of this thread, and someone > else mentioned the > > ice cream analogy too. Is there something about ice cream > and linux I > > missed? > > > > hmmmmmmm ... Baskin Robbins 9.0 > > </> > > > > And whichever choice is made ... there is a plethera of > documentation > > available for any installation. On the web, in books, > magazines, word of > > mouth. OpenBSD has installation instructions on the CD > liner notes for > > example. Docs are very easy to find for installations. > > > > > >>SuSE would be my recommendation for a second install, > because the sooner > >>you're off Red Hat, the better. SuSE is a close second for > docs and Closed > >>source app support, and with Novell promoting it, I expect > this gap will > >>close fast. Install isn't quite as easy as RH, but once > it's working, it's > >>easy too. > >> > > > > > > I disagree ... I had a horrid time with SuSE. I support > their cause, and I > > support their distribution as a choice. I recommend using > SuSE to several > > people actually. I however have not had good experiences > with it, and I > > prefer to use Fedora. I could say the same for Debian. I > am not about to > > start a which distro is king war. I know several others > disagree with me ... > > and that's fine. That's fantastic actually. I have the > choice ... and so > > does everyone else. > > > > I admin servers with other colleagues. Some like SuSE, or > Mandrake. If I was > > installing the machine it would not be my choice. Do I > really have a bone to > > pick if SuSe, or Mandrake is installed ... well no. > > > > They'd all run a linux kernel right? They'd all have the > same software > > available (like apache, postfix, PHP, postgres, bind, CVS, > etc.) right? > > Actually Aaron and I both use a RH6.2 box, as CVS and DNS. > Is it a big > > deal? ... not to me. He mentioned upgrading the box an > installing SuSE on > > it. Again not a big deal. It's granny smith vs. golden > delicious. Both > > still apples. > > > > > >>Debian is popular, and well documented on-line, but it's a > PITA to install. > >>It's worth knowing a bit about simply because it's a common > reference > >>platform, though this is waning fast. > >> > >>Gentoo is where you should go after Suse. It's faster than > any of the > >>others, it's lighter, and I find it much easier to > maintain. It's not > >>nearly as hard to install as Debian, but it's certainly not > as easy as Suse > >>or Fedora. Gentoo is also used for some interesting > projects (Hardened > >>Gentoo, for example). The only thing it doesn't have going > for it is (and > >>Personally, I don't care, but others do, I know...) LSB compliance. > > > > > > I think the bottom line is that there is no correct path to > take. The distro > > debate will go on forever. There is no right answer, and I > would be > > discouraged to see people choose SuSE, or Fedora, Gentoo, Mandrake, > > Slackware, Debian or any other operating system just > because someone else, > > somewhere, said so. I am all for every choice available, I > also support > > people making up their own minds as to the choices. > > > > > > Expand your knowledge everyone. Learn some history, learn > some present, and > > make informed choices. > > > > > > Andy > > > > > > > > P.S. Although I've never used it .... I do hear really good > things about > > Gentoo. Just thought I'd throw that out there. :-) > > > > > > A~ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > clug-talk mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > > > > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This communication is intended for the use of the recipient to which it is addressed, and may contain confidential, personal, and or privileged information. Please contact us immediately if you are not the intended recipient of this communication, and do not copy, distribute, or take action relying on it. Any communication received in error, or subsequent reply, should be deleted or destroyed. _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca
