[SC.LUG] Distro Upgrades & Re-installation

[Matthew Tolley]

Robert Marshall wrote:
>> I'm having a 'distro day' today, installing a dozen or so different 
>> distros to find which ones really grab me.
> eeeeek! a dozen!?

OK, a dozen may have been a bit ambitious! Due to technical issues and 
other demands on my time I only managed 3 or 4!

Actually I hated the Mandriva distro (the powerpack 2008 version) - 
slower than Ubuntu, yukky default look'n'feel, didn't get me online 
straight away (so far only Ubuntu has), and it mucked up my bootloading 
options (wouldn't let me boot into my other Hard Drives).

The serious point of the exercise is to find a distro that's so good it 
converts my friends away from Windows! To impress them sufficiently it 
should be easy to use, speedy, stylish and completely idiot-proof! 
Distros that are 'hard work' aren't going to lure them away from the 
dark side.

I've shortlisted Debian, Zenwalk and PCLinuxOS as serious contenders for 
my next distro, but if they don't come up to scratch I might end up 
sticking with Ubuntu. I was trying to find out if there were technical 
advantages or disadvantages between the rpms, debs and slackware 
formats, as this could affect my decision. If someone can explain the 
differences in non-technical plain English it would be appreciated!

While we're on the subject, how do I find executable program files in 
Linux? In Windows I used to look in the 'Program Files' directory for 
.exe files. Where should I look in Linux? Also how will I know whether a 
CD is bootable?

Best wishes to all,




Matthew