On Thu, Jan 11, 2001 at 03:44:38PM +0200, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> hey all,
>
> is there a ready made comparison table somewere, or let's just make one of
> our own,
> to compare difference between linux distributions? (like mandrake is the
> easiest to use, red hat is the easiest to install, etc...)
> or how about you just throw in ideas?
I think it would be hard to make one because you cannot really see all
the advantages and disadvantages of a distribution until you have been
using it for a while. Most of the distribution reviews are made by
technical reporters who can only afford to get a very rough idea of
what the distribution is all about -- often only the installation
process and a quick pass over the filesystem layout.
I like your idea of comparing different issues in a distribution
rather than looking for a single "best one", because I see
distibutions as providing several totally sepearate services.
Technical things I'm looking for in a distribution are:
1. Good installation.
2. Automatic hardware configuration.
3. Upgrade and manage the installation easily.
4. Integration: the packages should share services and configuration
options among them. For example, when you install a Debian package
it automatically gets added to all the menus of all the desktop
environments and window managers (I think Mandrake is using this
system too?). Or, installing a package should make sure it already
has a working /etc/init.d script, etc.
5. Quality: the packages should be installed with good defaults and
work the way a very good system administrator would have
recommended them to.
6. Scope: how much software (and which software, depending on your
needs) does the distribution support?
7. Configurability: how easy it is to continue using the
distribution's services even when you want to change the packages'
default configuration.
I don't really think "ease of use" is an issue for distributions.
Usually it's the desktop environments' job to provide easy tools, and
you can find all of these tools in several distributions, regardless
of which distribution they originated in.
Now I've only worked with Red Hat and Debian (and it's been several
years since I last touched Slackware). I'd say that Debian (2.2)
truelly excells in upgradability, managebality, integration,
configurability, quality and scope, does ok or less with installation
but totally fails hardware. Red Hat (6.2) by my experience FWIW does
very badly in upgradeability and quality, but has an okay scope,
hardware, configurability and integration, and has an excellent
installer.
> also a comparison between kde and gnome would be nice.. why use this or the
> other?
I don't think that would say much. You don't really have to choose
between running Gnome or KDE, you can run whichever components of the
two you prefer whenever you need them.
- Adi Stav
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