Re: [SLUG] Linux distributions

From: Diego Henao (webmaster@bloodhound.slyip.com)
Date: Mon Nov 18 2002 - 12:20:31 EST


With all my respect. I think you are talking like one of those newbies you
made mention of. I think you are supposed to know that using Linux is not
like Windows. I hope everything in my linux will work perfectly since I
install it on my computer, but that's not the reality. I have been using
linux for 5 years, and I am very impressed with the development they have
made on Linux (Each time I need to read less to make things work).

About RH 8.0, I have my server and my personal computer with RH 8.0. I
have not exprienced any problem with that (stability). I think you are
just talking about your personal problems and your evaluation is really
really superficial and personal. You just cannot generalize how a
distribution is for having problems with a peripherical or with a
bootloader.

I hope you will read more and then speak because these comments are
meaningless. I desire to read this emails with support details and with a
better resource and opinion about what a distribution is.

Regards

Diego

> Hi All:
>
> The title of this message was Linux distributions. Based on that and my
> current feelings I could not resist in responding.
>
> Last Wednesday at the Tampa meeting one of the strong grues help me with
> installing linux on my laptop. I did not want to loose the Windows
> setup and wanted this as a dual boot machine. my fear of the then
> current set up. More on this latter. As I am poor with names and very
> good with electrical drawings I can not name the person but I do wish
> to express my sincere thanks for the help I received in learning to
> split a hard drive.
>
> Anyway back to the Linux techie evaluation.
> But! Before I continue there are a number of people who are going to
> violently disagree this of this evaluation of RH, SuSE, and Mandrake.
> Sorry folks this is my evaluation and my opinion. If you have a
> different one that is your right but this is my evaluation.
>
> The first distribution that was installed was Mandrake 8.2. Now,
> Mandrake Professional is very fine distribution. I had tried it on my
> desktop test CD and found it to be advanced version to the older RH 7.3
> but as you should have with a peripherical or with a bootloader.

I hope you will read more and then speak because these comments are
meaningless. I desire to read this emails with support details and with a
better resource and opinion about what a distribution is.

Regards

Diego

> Hi All:
>
> The title of this message was Linux distributions. Based on that and my
> current feelings I could not resist in responding.
>
> Last Wednesday at the Tampa meeting one of the strong grues help me with
> installing linux on my laptop. I did not want to loose the Windows
> setup and wanted this as a dual boot machine. my fear of the then
> current set up. More on this latter. As I am poor with names and very
> good with electrical drawings I can not name the person but I do wish
> to express my sincere thanks for the help I received in learning to
> split a hard drive.
>
> Anyway back to the Linux techie evaluation.
> But! Before I continue there are a number of people who are going to
> violently disagree this of this evaluation of RH, SuSE, and Mandrake.
> Sorry folks this is my evaluation and my opinion. If you have a
> different one that is your right but this is my evaluation.
>
> The first distribution that was installed was Mandrake 8.2. Now,
> Mandrake Professional is very fine distribution. I had tried it on my
> desktop test CD and found it to be advanced version to the older RH 7.3
> but as you should have guessed by now there were a few problems. One of
> which is the disk installs and runs fine but it sure messes up the
> Windows boot loader. Well maybe it does; not sure here as I only
> installed it 5 times. The results were I could get Windows to boot or
> Mandrake to boot but not both. There could be a way to make this work;
> not sure but if there is it is not immediate obvious.
>
> Anyway I had a copy of SuSE 8.1 Personal. Now SuSE always install
> perfectly and almost everything always does seem to work. It is the
> parts that does not work that bother me. First, I have no idea of how
> to make a win modem work in SuSE. Yes, I know there are several
> organizations devoted to winmodems and drivers are which readely
> available but SuSE for all its other glories and leading edge programs
> apparently does not include those with the
> distribution. I find this strange as they have the IBM drivers for
> laptops. The computer I am installing this on is a laptop. Nor does
> SuSE provide a means to configure a scanner. I have a small scanner
> catridge that fits into a Cannon portable BJC-85 printer. To me though
> the major problem with SuSE is that I just don't trust them and this
> goes back to the 5.3 days when I spent 6 months trying to install a
> modem under SuSE finally switching to RH and accomplishing the
> configuration in 15 minutes. Every time I would configure SuSe they had
> some pguessed by now there were a few problems. One of
> which is the disk installs and runs fine but it sure messes up the
> Windows boot loader. Well maybe it does; not sure here as I only
> installed it 5 times. The results were I could get Windows to boot or
> Mandrake to boot but not both. There could be a way to make this work;
> not sure but if there is it is not immediate obvious.
>
> Anyway I had a copy of SuSE 8.1 Personal. Now SuSE always install
> perfectly and almost everything always does seem to work. It is the
> parts that does not work that bother me. First, I have no idea of how
> to make a win modem work in SuSE. Yes, I know there are several
> organizations devoted to winmodems and drivers are which readely
> available but SuSE for all its other glories and leading edge programs
> apparently does not include those with the
> distribution. I find this strange as they have the IBM drivers for
> laptops. The computer I am installing this on is a laptop. Nor does
> SuSE provide a means to configure a scanner. I have a small scanner
> catridge that fits into a Cannon portable BJC-85 printer. To me though
> the major problem with SuSE is that I just don't trust them and this
> goes back to the 5.3 days when I spent 6 months trying to install a
> modem under SuSE finally switching to RH and accomplishing the
> configuration in 15 minutes. Every time I would configure SuSe they had
> some program that would immediately change my configuration back to
> their settings which brings me back to Win modems..
>
> Then there is the RH 8.0 distribution that I originally purchased to
> installed on the laptop which has some sort of weird new interface
> known only to RH. I won't express any more of my negative feelings
> toward this distribution on this list. I have pretty well been drained
> on that score on sever other lists but suffice it to say my best
> comment on this was that "RH did a hatchet job on Gnome combined with
> complete distruction of KDE". Major point here is that I feel violated
> for purchasing such trash.
>
> There are several points to this rambling with all three of these
> distributions playing a far distant second fiddle to RH 7.2 and Mandrake
> of the same ventage. I recall I tried one of Paul's free Mandrake
> distributions and liked it as well as RH 7.2 but not having a full box
> set I stayed with RH. Some are going to question the RH 7.2 over RH 7.3
> but realize here that I am not speaking of the individual programs but
> the distribution and its stability. The programs can be upgraded by
> download. RH 7.3 is far too unstable for me. For one thing modem
> connections freeze up for no apparent reason. Kppp was stable in RH 7.2
> but it is not in RH 7.3. This should have been a tip off to the
> problems with RH 8.0 and KDE since I use Kppp for the modem.
>
rogram that would immediately change my configuration back to
> their settings which brings me back to Win modems..
>
> Then there is the RH 8.0 distribution that I originally purchased to
> installed on the laptop which has some sort of weird new interface
> known only to RH. I won't express any more of my negative feelings
> toward this distribution on this list. I have pretty well been drained
> on that score on sever other lists but suffice it to say my best
> comment on this was that "RH did a hatchet job on Gnome combined with
> complete distruction of KDE". Major point here is that I feel violated
> for purchasing such trash.
>
> There are several points to this rambling with all three of these
> distributions playing a far distant second fiddle to RH 7.2 and Mandrake
> of the same ventage. I recall I tried one of Paul's free Mandrake
> distributions and liked it as well as RH 7.2 but not having a full box
> set I stayed with RH. Some are going to question the RH 7.2 over RH 7.3
> but realize here that I am not speaking of the individual programs but
> the distribution and its stability. The programs can be upgraded by
> download. RH 7.3 is far too unstable for me. For one thing modem
> connections freeze up for no apparent reason. Kppp was stable in RH 7.2
> but it is not in RH 7.3. This should have been a tip off to the
> problems with RH 8.0 and KDE since I use Kppp for the modem.
>
> As for attempting to install linux on the laptop. I quite well. I have
> color visual screen which to most people would look quite acceptable
> but here another problem enters I am color blind - nothing severe - I
> just can not tell the difference in paster brown, pastel green, and
> pastel gray. Well you can imagine what colors the screen of all three
> of the latest (RH, SuSE, and Mandrake) screen appears in. To me it
> looks like shit when I am being polite. I can not speak for SuSE but
> this problem did not exist in the older RH or Mandrake.
>
> If the screen was all of my discust with these three then the problem
> would be one thing but that in reality only masks the real problems. I
> can not find Kppp. nor usermount, not midnight commander just to name a
> few minor things that have been left out. The distributions have been
> gutted of many highly relevant programs. Folks they just are not there.
>
> As far as I am concerned the only folks that would appreciate RH 8.0,
> SuSE 8.1, and Mandrake 8.2 are folks who think that MS Windows XP is
> the greatest thing since man has invented. These distributions have
> been dumbed down, stupified, and ioditic to such an extent that I
> sincerely hope that there is no one on this list with the exception of
> the newest of newbies who would appreciate them.
>
> The problem is that I find this sad as I know that I am not currently up
> to De
> As for attempting to install linux on the laptop. I quite well. I have
> color visual screen which to most people would look quite acceptable
> but here another problem enters I am color blind - nothing severe - I
> just can not tell the difference in paster brown, pastel green, and
> pastel gray. Well you can imagine what colors the screen of all three
> of the latest (RH, SuSE, and Mandrake) screen appears in. To me it
> looks like shit when I am being polite. I can not speak for SuSE but
> this problem did not exist in the older RH or Mandrake.
>
> If the screen was all of my discust with these three then the problem
> would be one thing but that in reality only masks the real problems. I
> can not find Kppp. nor usermount, not midnight commander just to name a
> few minor things that have been left out. The distributions have been
> gutted of many highly relevant programs. Folks they just are not there.
>
> As far as I am concerned the only folks that would appreciate RH 8.0,
> SuSE 8.1, and Mandrake 8.2 are folks who think that MS Windows XP is
> the greatest thing since man has invented. These distributions have
> been dumbed down, stupified, and ioditic to such an extent that I
> sincerely hope that there is no one on this list with the exception of
> the newest of newbies who would appreciate them.
>
> The problem is that I find this sad as I know that I am not currently up
> to Debian but that is beginning to look like the only distribution that
> has not been complified idiotified.
>
> As far as my current laptop the situation is exactly what one of my old
> professor friends at USF ask me when I was demonstrating my dual boot
> Windows / Linus laptop to him. What does Linux here (on the laptop)
> bring to the picture besides a lot of un-necessary problems?
>
> Frankly I have no answer to this question as I am highly considering
> taking that trash off my laptop.
>
> Boy, if only I could figure out how to put RH 7.2 on it.
>
> Frank



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