Which *nix distro

[GrumbleDook]

Yep ... I'm a vi persn too ... ever since I saw Star Wars episode VI: Return of the Jedi ... if vi is good enough for Jedi it is good enough for me!

[Geoff]

I use nano.

[wesleyw]

I've actually used vi when I was doing code maintenance for QAD Europe's MFG/Pro packages I think it ran over a terminal client patched into HPUX (You should have seen the size of the server lol I'm 6'3 and I couldn't see over the top of it ) Good olds days. I tend to use 'joe' now though.

 

Wes

[ITWombat]

Returning back to the topic

 

I finally got round to trying Ubuntu. It's OK I suppose though Gnome is starting to get on my nerves (Dapper Kubuntu hadn't been released on cover mount at the time).

 

My real quandry is whether I should also try one of the major RPM distros.

I've been a user of Debian variants either on Live-CD or HDD.

 

If it wasnt for certfication by big boy hardware and app/DB vendors is there much to recommend running RedHat or SuSe?

[Geoff]

I quite like Gnome personally. I believe Kbunutu is avalible now if you prefer KDE though. Even if it isn't, there's nothing stopping you installing KDE on Ubuntu yourself. Just apt-get the packages.

 

I dislike RPM based distros. They all have an unfortunate tendency to result in dependency hell. APT based systems such as Ubuntu and Debian seem to suffer a lot less from this. I'm unsure if it's down to technical differences in the package mangement systems or theres better quality control and testing by the relevant developers.

 

Some comercial software is specifcally crafted so it only supports one Linux distro. Typically this is Redhat Enterprise. If you have such software and don't fancy shelling out a load of cash then use CentOS. It's entirely compatible.

 

Suse is nice. I used to use it back when it was on v6.x. I don't know what Novell has done to it lately.

[webman]

Ubuntu/Debian's package management (Aptitude) usually receives better praise than RPM-based management, and as Geoff pointed out, just apt-get install to install the software and its dependencies.

 

There's nothing wrong with Ubuntu at all, and you can download versions tailored for Gnome (Ubuntu), KDE (Kubuntu), and XFCE (Xubuntu). Or if you already have it installed, it's just a matter of apt-get install [x/k]ubuntu-desktop to install KDE or XFCE respectively.

 

SUSE has changed a lot with Novell's involvement, and they have done a lot in the way of usability studies and (I believe) contributing to the Gnome desktop environment and getting linux into corporations and governments around the world.