Ken Gray wrote:
>im concidering putting linux on my system at home (who am i kiding? i
>will be putting linux on my system) but im kind of lost between the
>outdated info in various sources on which dist is going to help me.
>
>this is what i need:
>1 easy installation
Installation of Debian should be straightforward, unless you have any
troublesome bits of hardware. The installation disks (or the equivalent
on CD) should enable most machines to boot. I think that if you have
trouble here you would have trouble with any distribution.
The procedure is: boot from the installation disks, install the base system.
You are taken through the necessary steps in order, though you have the
power to vary the sequence in some cases.
Then run dselect and install all essential, required, important and standard
packages. Don't try to install anything else until this stage is complete.
Then go through the list in dselect and install any optional or extra
packages that take your fancy.
All this is done on a standard VDU-like screen.
>2 robust/easy to use graphical enviroment such as in os2
The graphical environment is X, with the window manager of your choice.
It is the window manager that gives the feel of the environment - you
have a number to choose from. I use (and recommend) fvwm2.
X can be a problem to configure - again it's a question of what hardware
you've got. Some items are better supported than others. The vga16 Xserver
package includes a XF86Setup program, which does a pretty good job of
configuring a working version.
In all these hardware questions, you do need to know what cards you have
got and even what chips are on the cards. This is because manufacturers
don't provide convenient installation disks for Linux...
>what i need to know from you is why should i get your product instead of
>
>Redhat 5.1?
My one attempt to use Red Hat failed when its installation disks didn't
recognise my hardware, so I can't claim to speak from experience. This
is my perception:
Red Hat's advantages:
public presence
fairly nice GUI installer (I believe)
rpm is the most likely format in which to find commercial Linux packages
Debian's:
largest number of own packages
very well tested
very easy to upgrade software
dependency checking protects against missing libraries or incompatible
versions
largest number of developers and testers
can install rpm as well as its own format
The new release of Debian (next week, barring disasters) is very well
tested (I have been using it for a year) and well worth a try.
--
Oliver Elphick [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Isle of Wight http://www.lfix.co.uk/oliver
PGP key from public servers; key ID 32B8FAA1
========================================
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
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