[ale] good linux

[James Kinney]

OK, I'll put in my $.02

I have personally installed and used:
Slakeware, RedHat, Debian, Mandrake and Suse.

I learned mountains about how unix systems work by installing Slakeware.
(in 1993-1994 it was a bunch of floppy images to write and install from)

I learned about writing mode lines for X using the timing diagrams for the
monitor and a spreadsheet called sc.

I learned about package management from RedHat. RPM has come a long way
since RedHat 3.2. I thought I would never figure out to configure stuff
since it was located different than Slackware.

I learned about just how unbelievably complicated it is to install an OS
from scratch from Debian. It installed perfectly, without a single error
on a laptop. Even the pcmcia networking worked. X worked. I saw more
information go by on my screen that I thought was possible. I've not seen
an installation since that left such a smoothly running, balanced system
since.

I learned that rpm's are not all the same from Suse and Mandrake. From
suse, I got the clearest X screen on my laptop since they were suppporting
X development for the chipset I had. I never did get the hang of YAST.
Linuxconf is pretty usefull for general setup and maintenance and getting
better. Mandrake, for me, tried and missed. Everything compiled for
pentium or higher it is. But it is not slicker than the RedHat version
they are based on. Nor do they seem to include as much as "stuff" as
RedHat. Suse is almost overload on "stuff"! Debian install every game
ever written for the unix/linux platform. And they all worked!

(I have been forbidden to play freeciv again by my wife!)

Conclusion:
Currently, I am running a RedHat 7.1-SGI-XFS server profesionally. I run
RedHat 6.2 (with LOTS of upgrades) personally. Why? Because they work for
me. I like them. But I also have added lots of stuff I want that is not in
any distro. So I really run "Jim's RedHat 7.1-SGI-XFS"

What should be remembered is that we have the choice. The end result is
still the same. A linux platform to do our work and play. I (almost) feel
sorry for the Microsoft only crowd. They have no sayso about it.

-- 
James P. Kinney III   \Changing the mobile computing world/
President and COO      \          one Linux user         /
Local Net Solutions,LLC \           at a time.          /
770-493-8244             \.___________________________./

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