> Mark Crean wrote: > >Debian must be fantastic as a server OS (though I've never had trouble > >in three and a half years with SuSE for httpd, ftp, mail, so far) but it > >seems too rough on the desktop, lacking in polish and with the Debian > >system of commands in many ways more complicated than the rpm and > >YaST-based stuff on SuSE (which can also now be set up for the apt > >system).
I started with Debian. It took me a month. I also burned a Mandrake ISO, and some others, and used them as references to see what I should expect to work and what I shouldn't. But under them I was as completely ignorant as to what was actually going on as I was in Windows. I started from ground zero, I mean just getting old non-truetype, plain jane X fonts with twm working. Then getting a GTK1 envronment. Then a GTK2 environment, with anti-aliasing. Then my printer. Then burning CDs. Then watching DVDs. Each task, required active learning on my part, but nothing was inconsistent, or unachievable. It took a month, but by the end I knew exactly what was going on and exactly why each thing worked. I wasn't ignorant any more. But it took a month, and 3 months before I knew how to create my own software. I must have started over 15-20 times. This was a month of 5-6 hours per day. The tradeoff is knowledge and control, versus ease of use. Difficulty vs. frailty. Now I have exactly what I want: a perfect eye-candy environment when I want it, with total control over when and how it functions. It suits me at least. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
