[olug] Distributions

[Jason Ferguson]

Derek,

You make some good points here.  I admit I _really_ like Debian, but Im
trying to work within the bounds here.

My assumption is that the majority of people coming to an Installfest are
going to be at the Newbie level. Not all. So, having other distributions
available is a good thing, and will happen.

However, being at the newbie level, I feel I need to offer distributions
that a newbie has a fighting chance of installing (understanding is the next
step).  To me, this means the following distributions qualify (speak up if
you want to add to this list):

- Redhat
- Mandrake
- Corel
- Storm
- Caldera

Now, Redhat offers name recognition. This is good. Redhat has a bad habit
of, when making big changes to a distribution, having some problems. This is
bad.  Im honestly worried here: how good will their first distro with a
2.4.x kernel be? Will they enable devfs and all that by default?

Mandrake is Redhat, but with the i586 optimizations and theease of
installation. Okay, they have anaconda, and a,ll those other nifty tools.
But thats a quick and dirty description.

Corel is debian+KDE. Corel is also leaving the linux distro market.

Storm is debian with ease of installation. Stormix, the parent company,
declared Bankruptcy. I dont want to offer a distro that may fade into
oblivion.

Caldera: I dont know enough to judge Caldera. Looks like ease of install is
good.

Now, for the reasons Ive laid out, Mandrake is what Im about to bless. Its
here, its (relatively, by Linux distro standards) easy, and it has SOME
recognition.

Im always willing to listen to reason.  However, those are MY arguments FOR
choosing Mandrake.  Im perfectly willing to hear arguments against it.

Jason
El Vice Presidente, OLUG

dbw wrote:

> Slackware was my first distribution. I still prefer many things about
> it as compared to the majority of other Linux distributions.  Would
> I recommend it for an install fest or for the beginning Linux user?
> The answer is ?no?.
>
> >Okay, I know, Im risking starting a holy war here.  However, hear me
> >out.
> >
>
> I suggest that we focus on two individual distributions!  Just two,
> that should prevent any holy wars.
>
> 1. The widely acclaimed and most popular Redhat Linux distribution.
> I suggest version 6.2, I always recommend the dot-two versions
> of Redhat.
>
> 2. For those too cool for Redhat, I suggest debian as the second.
> There are many people that have not tried out this distribution
> and it seems to have appeal among some of the more technically savvy
> users.  It?s not my first choice but it is mentioned quite a lot
> here in the mail list.
>
> However, I would NOT suggest Mandrake? well because?
>
> >Why not just make an OLUG distro?  All you have to do is replace the
> >logos and a few text files and you're done.  If Mandrake can do it,
> >anyone can...
>
> - Vincent <vraffensberger at home.com>
>
> That?s why; I pretty much see it the same as Vincent.
>
> Mandrake is really not a mainstream distribution.  It doesn?t appeal
> to the ultra-geek nor does it have any appeal for commercial application.
>
> For #2 I would say ?Slackware? but I know that Jason and some other
> members are big on debian so I feel that among our group, debian
> seems to have wide spread appeal.  Also, it would give me the opportunity
> to try it again and maybe discover things that I missed the first
> time around.
>
> Redhat and debian.
>
> Further comments available at the following URL:
> http://linux.dbw.org/articles/my_first_linux.html
>
> -dbw
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