indie Posted November 11, 2005 Posted November 11, 2005 I'm sure we all have our favourite distro that we use and recommend to people, but just what is it about that distro that you like? I've been using Debian for years. It's moved on from what it was in the late 90s and has excellent package management! Need to install apache? apt-get install apache Need to install mySQL? apt-get install mysql It installs the other components that the package needs and sets up a default configuration. Want to update all your packages to the latest version? apt-get dist-upgrade What other features do you like that your distro has?
kingswood Posted November 11, 2005 Posted November 11, 2005 I've never been very good at getting Debian installed, although when I have done have found apt an excellent package management system. I installed SuSE 10 OSS last night on my Dell Inspiron 510m, and everything works! It was a fantastic install and I think I might just switch from XP Pro to SuSE on the machine permanently. I have always liked the manuals with SuSE, and the system seems nicely polished. I also happen to like YAST- it's been a really handy configuration tool. The other thing I love is the depth of software that comes with the average SuSE package- just amazing! *sigh* getting all sentimental :-) Paul
DMcCoy Posted November 11, 2005 Posted November 11, 2005 Pity Novell got hold of suse :/ First distro I used too I've moved to debian now, but only because I can't use openbsd very easily without vmware tools. OpenBSD is rather daunting to install, but it has no extra rubbish with it and is small and secure. I can't stand all these huge distros, completely useless for what I want. I know OpenBSD isn't a distro, but they are all unix like.
MkII Posted November 11, 2005 Posted November 11, 2005 With my very limited experience I vote ubuntu! Minimal number of installed apps initially. Like the idea of the update/install system. Gotta do a re-install of the generic x86 version as the amd64 version has problems with flash and a particular java applet I need. I tried Mandrake almost 10 years ago - didn't like it really, Red Hat on a server since, Slackware, Xandros recently, and live CD's of Damn Small and Linspire - as well as knoppix and Kanotix that I keep in my kit.
ChrisH Posted November 11, 2005 Posted November 11, 2005 I use debian as once again the package management is excellent. I have tried various other distros but got completely lost with them especialy the $&£** RPM dependancy crap . I started of doing full installs with full GUI then threw myself in the deep end and installed from a base installation and went from there with the basic command line. Im still no master as my frequent posts is the Linux forum will indicate but I enjoy learning how to use another oh so flexible OS.
Geoff Posted November 13, 2005 Posted November 13, 2005 Gentoo. I like the package management and I have slightly unusual hardware (i686 SMP) and need to optimise for it.
E1uSiV3 Posted November 14, 2005 Posted November 14, 2005 Technically its not linux, but ive only run FreeBSD to any useful extent, so my vote goes to other. From Geoffs reccomendations (and the fact i like the optimisation and customisation gentoo allows) ill be tryign gentoo on my next bit of kit. btw, due to the nature of gentoo (ie the custom compiles etc) is there a livecd available or do i need to create one? (which sorta defeats the object lol) ive found a wiki on how to create them but cant find anything on an "out the box" livecd. The issue is i have no hardware to currently install gentoo on and i wanted to try it on my workstation at work.
Geoff Posted November 14, 2005 Posted November 14, 2005 Thou shalt read the instalation documentation. http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=2#doc_chap2 The Minimal LiveCD has always served me. If your on dialup you might want to grab the Universal CD which has the stage files on it too. I'd also recommend a stage 3 install to a first timer. You can always rebuild your system afterwards with further optimisations.
MkII Posted November 14, 2005 Posted November 14, 2005 There's reference to it here EluSiV3: http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/installer/
E1uSiV3 Posted November 14, 2005 Posted November 14, 2005 /me bows down and admits to the mortal sin of not checking the original documents... damn you google!
SimpleSi Posted November 14, 2005 Posted November 14, 2005 Using Ubuntu (it works and comes on 1 CD) at home and at 1 school. Used RedHat 7.0 in the old days. Always have Knoppix at hand for rescue work. regards Simon
penguinpowered Posted November 17, 2005 Posted November 17, 2005 I started way back when (about 4 or 5 years ago) with Redhat 6.0, then moved on to Redhat 7.3, 8.0, 9.0 Fedora 2, Fedora 3, Fedora 4 (very recently), and I've tried out various others (slackware, suse, debian). I've even tried OpenBSD and Darwin though I did have a little trouble getting Darwin installed. I also regularly use various live cd's for tasks including knoppix, slax, phlak, std, demo-linux, mepis, and some floppy-based distros including, trinux and brutalware. My PC is currently dual-booting XP & Fedora 4. I've also got a laptop running Ubuntu, a PDA (Sharp Zaurus) running OpenZaurus 1.5.3 (based on th 2.4 kernel), my iPod runs Linux for iPod with the Podzilla interface. Much love for the penguin!
Geoff Posted November 17, 2005 Posted November 17, 2005 Curious that no one is using DeadRat? Not even got an Enterprise Edition server between us?
penguinpowered Posted November 17, 2005 Posted November 17, 2005 Curious that no one is using DeadRat? Not even got an Enterprise Edition server between us? I did look into trialling it at home before I got Fedora 4 but I didn't see any advantages over Fedora (considering that my 'trial version' wouldn't have been eligible for support).
ConTheITGuy Posted November 17, 2005 Posted November 17, 2005 I'm sure I read somewhere (tho I may have dreamt it) that it was going to be made available to schools for nowt - anyone else concur with that or am I just making it up (quite likely) Andy.
Geoff Posted November 17, 2005 Posted November 17, 2005 That (was) SUSE Enterprise Server. But its been bought by Novell now. Suse is a free download anyway too.
ConTheITGuy Posted November 17, 2005 Posted November 17, 2005 Yeah, just looked into it - RedHat do Academic pricing but a Site 'Subscription' starts at $2,500! Tho you can get individual licenses - would probably need looking into (more).
eejit Posted November 29, 2005 Posted November 29, 2005 I've mainly used SuSE over the years, but gave Ubuntu a try recently - I hated it and went back to SuSE. People online are up in arms that Novel have ruined it, but I just see it being better with every release. Am I dillusional?
CyberNerd Posted January 13, 2006 Posted January 13, 2006 CentOS is re-packaged Red Hat Enterprise linux http://www.centos.org/
webman Posted January 14, 2006 Posted January 14, 2006 I'll second CyberNerd's reference to CentOS, it's great
openhgs Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 AT school, we use FC3 & 4, because they are the natural progression from Redhat. I first installed Redhat professionally in 1997 and I used it until the Fedora split off. Over the years, it has proved to be the most reliable, the easist to administer and the easiest to upgrade. We're an LTSP site; are there any others on this list? My first deviation from RH was to Suse. I spent 6 months with it, before cutting back. I got sick of having to download dependancies, when ever I wanted to do something. Take The Gimp, for example. Suse did not have the development libraries on the CDs. which made compiling Gimp plugins impossible. I also found YAST to be less than sucessful when making changes to hardware configs. I also had a brief filitation (3 days) with Ubuntu, but after it completely trashed my filesystem, I swung back to FC. and here I will stay. At home, my laptop runs RGH7.1 and my main box dual boots FC3 and Windows 3.1; as an aside am I the only person running Windows 3.1 on a P4 2K? It's very quick, on the very rare occaisons that I use it.
webman Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 Windows. 8O Three. 8O Point One 8O I did a very small trial of K12-LTSP based on FC3 last year, but it seemed very, very slow on a 2.4GHz P4 with 1GB of RAM with only one client connected. Now Edubuntu does LTSP I may revisit the idea if I get the chance
CyberNerd Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 @webman Check out FreeNX, I use it to access my (SuSE) Desktop from home and vice (over ssh) versa, Its faster over slow network links as it uses Citrix style compression and caching, Its just a more advanced LTSP and it will also allow you to forward RDP connections to windows servers/. http://freenx.berlios.de/ Never tried for multiuser though. They also have a commercial version with better management tools. http://nomachine.com/ There is now a Thin Client / Server Forum on EduGeek
MkII Posted January 16, 2006 Posted January 16, 2006 I 'knew' of an IT Manager that ran Win 3.1 and Office 2.4 [i think] on some serious h/w - it had the functionality he needed an booted and ran like ....
beast_gts Posted January 19, 2006 Posted January 19, 2006 I started with SuSE but now use Mandrake/Mandriva.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now