[Lancaster] Help me select a distrob

[Ken Hough]

Well said! Each to his/her own.

I would add one more bit of advice.

After selecting a distro, stick with it. For a beginner, swopping around 
is likely to confuse be very confusing.

A final (,final) thought -- There's nothing like a distro war to 
stimulate 'discussion'.

Ken

jonath wrote:
> Hi there,
> 
> I've been following this discussion about selecting a distribution so thought 
> I might put in my penny's worth or whatever the expression is.
> 
> Also, this is my first mailing to this newsgroup, so bear with me . . . 
> 
> Seems to me that the variation in distributions is one of Linux's strengths 
> over other operating systems: the fact that you can install a version to fit 
> your requirements, knowing full well that you will still have a working 
> GNU/Linux system able to run the plethora of software available.
> 
> The distribution you would go with is down to the user and their requirements, 
> but may also involve a bit of trial and error. As someone else has already 
> pointed out, no distribution is perfect but this also applies to other 
> operating systems in general. One day computers will be ubiquitous and will 
> simply be tools and nothing more, but until such a day . . .
> 
> 'HAB Boy' had drawn up a shortlist of Mandriva or Fedora Core 5. To this my 
> advice would simply be to try them out, see if they fit with their 
> requirements. If not, try out SuSE, Ubuntu or many of the other 
> recommendations already made. I use Gentoo, having got completely hacked off 
> with the package management features of other distributions, but this may 
> have changed since then. Gentoo, like all others, has it's pros and cons, a 
> major con being the lengthy/text-based (although very well documented) 
> installation required, but this didn't bother me. A pro, of course, being the 
> (almost) seamless installation/uninstallation of software. So, hey . . . each 
> to their own.
> 
> Whatever you choose, be aware that the GNU/Linux community is incredibly 
> helpful and supportive (in my experience) and it's rare that you'll encounter 
> a problem that no-one else has ever encountered (and, hence, provided a 
> solution thereof).
> 
> BYE!
> 
> jonath.
> 
> On Thursday 20 April 2006 23:29, Martyn Welch wrote:
> 
>>Personally, I prefer vi.
>>
>>Whoops wrong topic. :-)
>>
>>Martyn
>>
>>On Thursday 20 Apr 2006 18:31, mp wrote:
>>
>>>On Thu, 2006-04-20 at 18:04 +0100, Ken Hough wrote:
>>>
>>>>mp wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>>I note that many of the reviewers have switched to SuSE. That must
>>>>>>say something.
>>>>>
>>>>>Like 1000s of billions of flies eat shit, or people like to watch
>>>>>Jerry Springer - what does that mean, mewonders?
>>>>
>>>>I won't bother commenting.
>>>
>>>that is a comment in itself.
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>SuSE WORKS and WORKS very well. If, like me, you want an easily
>>>>>>installed/configured system that (contrary to comments made
>>>>>>previously) is easy to reconfigure, then it's up there with the
>>>>>>best. It's a very professional product.
>>>>>
>>>>>Yea, it is a professional product, but more importantly, for me, it
>>>>>is a huge corporate project of a company that makes hundreds of
>>>>>millions of dollars on it, which is my reason for NOT wanting to
>>>>>choose it.
>>>>>
>>>>>Ubuntu helps Debian, which is a community project that intersects
>>>>>with other social movement projects, such as Indymedia, and that is
>>>>>why I choose to use Ubuntu: it is grass-roots connected, yet it is
>>>>>very user-friendly and up-2-date with the newest drivers and
>>>>>features.
>>>>
>>>>I think that you will find that the major distros are all pretty well
>>>>up to date and can be kept that way by a visit to the relevant web
>>>>site.
>>>
>>>I meant why I choose Ubuntu over Debian, not over the other bleeding
>>>edge alternatives.
>>>
>>>
>>>>>I realise that these are political reasons, and that they are not the
>>>>>concern for the pure, objective engineer - but I believe that to be
>>>>>an illusionary position anyway: everything is political; certainly
>>>>>software is.
>>>>
>>>>I really don't understand your arguments.
>>>
>>>I can see that!
>>>
>>>
>>>>Yes! NOVELL makes money out of
>>>>applying SuSE. Red Hat makes money out of Fedora. But let's remember
>>>>that they also fund development of these distros which all of us have
>>>>access to.
>>>>
>>>>Ubuntu is funded by Mr Shuttleworth via his own money and all credit to
>>>>him for that. Again we all have access to the distro.
>>>
>>>But Ubuntu directly helps Debian, that was one of my points.
>>>
>>>
>>>>There are now many businesses based on making money out of applying
>>>>Linux, but unlike the above, they do not directly fund Linux.
>>>>
>>>>All of these activities are good for Linux as a whole and result in
>>>>more and more people being exposed to Linux and to developments being
>>>>pushed along. That's got to be good for all of us.
>>>
>>>It is, but there is still a significant conceptual difference between a
>>>community project and a coporate profit margin, whether you can
>>>understand that argument or not.
>>>
>>>
>>>>So let's not get hung up on fine words like "community project that
>>>>intersects with....".
>>>
>>>You can get hung up whereever you like, for me -and a hell of a lot of
>>>other people- these are real issues. I do want to get hung up, not on
>>>"fine words", but in the reality that community projects are. These are,
>>>of course, realities that mainly makes sense to someone who has
>>>experienced them, worked with them, volunteered within them and someone
>>>for whom social change is of greater importance then corporate greed and
>>>state-of-the-art technology.
>>>
>>>
>>>>If all had been left only to Debian, Linux
>>>>wouldn't be as far ahead WRT development as it currently is.
>>>
>>>Yes, there has certainly been great achievements riding on the surplus
>>>of capitalism for the free software movement - but as this necessity is
>>>slowly disappearing, people who care can move away from those who are in
>>>it for the money. And even if this is a half-hearted solution based on
>>>Shuttleworth's unfair accummulation of wealth in the first place, it is
>>>nevertheless half a step towards freedom from corporate control.
>>>
>>>
>>>>From what I have read, until recently, the politics within Debian were
>>>>killing it!
>>>
>>>Yes, there are always costs involved in having and maintaining
>>>principles: options must be foregone and technical advance at any cost
>>>rejected. However, such compromises are always there - many devices work
>>>really well in Windows out of the box and some probably never will in
>>>the GNU/Linux world without some extreme hacker skills. The question,
>>>then, is where do you draw the line? With the arrival of Ubuntu we are
>>>provided with an option that is one step closer to the the grass-roots,
>>>one step further away from corporate greed.
>>>
>>>The choice is yours, I am happily hung up on politics.
>>>
>>>-mp
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Lancaster mailing list
>>>Lancaster at mailman.lug.org.uk
>>>https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/lancaster
> 
> 
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