Re: New user rant..urr, questions.
Hi Sy
Many thanks for your detailed response.
You asK
>
>
> Question for you, if I may:
> I am using an x86 system. If Debian ended up being my sole OS,
> are there advantages to switching to another hardware platform?
> Does Debian run better on other platforms? (all else being equal -
> like hardware expense, availability, speeds &c.)
>
>
> Thanks for your time.. btw, if you intended this conversation
> to be in the mailing list.. feel free to CC it.
I know Debian has distributions for Alpha, Sparc, M68000, PowerPC,
and other platforms as well. You can find what is avaliable by
looking on the web site, www.debian.org. I cannot tell you which is
better, but I suspect that the x86 version is going to be a little
more stable, only because it seems to have been around longer.
Would someone on the list respond to this question?
--David
David Teague, dbt@cs.wcu.edu
Debian GNU/Linux Because software support is free, timely,
useful, technically accurate, and friendly.
(I hope this is all of the above.)
On Fri, 3 Nov 2000, sysy wrote:
> >I think you will like Debian, but please, please have patience.
>
> --+ That I will. I have tendancy to be manic about software,
> either unreasonably picky, or not focused enough to
> fix problems for myself.. and giving up too early. These
> habits are soon to change. (enter Debian)
>
>
> >Debian gets a bad rap for being hard to install. I am not very good
> >at installation, and I got it up on my own, with the definitely
> >difficult dselect and dpkg. You will be using apt, a distinctly
> >superior breed of installation software.
>
> --+ If it's difficult to install, then I'll be the one to write and
> maintain the installation FAQ.
>
>
> >Read carefully and completely the release notes and experiences --
> >OH there are mailing list archives available on the Debian web site
> >www.debian.org. You have to look. It has a search engine that I
> >think you can use to locate stuff. I have not used the search engine
> >yet as it was set up fairly recently.
> >
> >I hope someone will give you some specific references to his/her
> >experiences, and encouragement.
> >
> >I assure you, your documentation of your experiences will be
> >welcomed by me, and others here on Debian-User.
>
> --+ My intention is to approach this project in a more constructive
> manner than I've used in the past. My experiences with early
> computing right up to recent history have been frought with
> problems that could easily have earned me millions in sci-fi
> publications. =) I want to leave a trail of documentation for
> others to review and learn from and affect the core of the OS.
> Ultimately, if I decide I want to settle down with Debian as
> my new baby, I will be throwing everything else (except DOS
> on a palmtop, but maybe even that) to the wind and dedicating
> some fuel to the fire.
> --+ I also intend to sit back and do information gathering
> before I wade into things. Examples: I have been researching
> palmtops for over a year (and not researching lightly at that).
> I waded into the Amiga and Amiga emulation (and concluded
> that the platform is dead until sweeping changes in the comp.
> industry are made).. anyhow, I do intend to learn before
> acting, but if Debian's documentation for newbies is lacking
> that much, I might just step in and install, taking newbie
> notes along the way.. then posting a faq to help others out
> and influence the code for the installation routine.
>
>
> >You experiences sound like my motly experience, excepting you
> >replace the C64 with and Apple 2 and add several mainframe and mini
> >computers to the mix, along with AT&T 3b2s with System V.2, A 386
> >with a Interactive's 386ix System V.4 port to the i386, and System
> >V.4 on a couple of Gateway EISA 486 machines here in the computer
> >science department. As soon as Linux was available and sufficiently
> >stable, we put SLS 1.01 on those machines, then Slackware, then
> >Debian 0.93. We haven't looked back. In place upgrade is the way to go.
> >
> >I still am not very good at keeping the box running. I have had the
> >good fortune of having student system administrators who seem to
> >always come out of the woodwork, to be extremely good, so I have
> >been able to concentrate on teaching and my one hobby, music.
> >
> >I maintain my own Debian systems at home, but I tend to install and
> >use a version until I need something that only a later version
> >provides. I have been running 2.2 (potato) since the first of the
> >year when it was supposed to be unstable. It wasn't at all unstable.
> >
> >I program development in support of my teaching and text book
> >writing. I have not lost data on a linux system due to a software
> >crash, neither operating system crash, nor a failure of free
> >software, since the early Debian 0.93 days.
> >
> >I have lost some data due to hard disk failure, but that happens
> >with any operating sytem.
>
> --+ I have hope for Debian, but at this point I lack enough information
> to have your faith. Because I lack so many of the skills which a
> Linux user has (like programming.. a skill I can't quite develop
> mentally), this might be especially difficult. I am also VERY hard
> on programmers because of their (apparent) lack of consideration
> for useability in their software. Debian is going to be rough both
> because a lot of it relys on programming skills and it has a
> distinctly 'low tech' interface to it's underlying structure.
> --+ I've heard a lot of stories about multitasking and stability
> which point a power user (I hate the term) like myself toward
> Debian, but I still question how useful I can make the OS. I
> will learn in time.
>
>
> >Windows 9x crashes twice daily if I use it lightly, and at the level
> >I have to push it to do my text book writing I find that 3 to 5
> >times a day is more like it. From what you say, Lose 9x and NT are
> >expensive jokes on users and programmers alike, jokes in poor taste.
>
> --+ I have always felt that Windows' model of task switching and
> shared libraries was a bad choice. Software doesn't properly
> communicate - so there is hardly a point in having more than one
> task up at once (and remember that humans can't exactly multitask),
> and a plethora of problems have cropped up because of their
> model of installing software.. differing version numbers playing havok
> etc.. Windows 9x just made things worse, with the concept of a
> "registry" quickly becoming a bloated demilitarized zone of .ini files.
> --+ Anyhow, I do hope I can wade through any problems Debian
> has, and maybe help improve it along the way.
>
>
>
> Question for you, if I may:
> I am using an x86 system. If Debian ended up being my sole OS,
> are there advantages to switching to another hardware platform?
> Does Debian run better on other platforms? (all else being equal -
> like hardware expense, availability, speeds &c.)
>
>
> Thanks for your time.. btw, if you intended this conversation
> to be in the mailing list.. feel free to CC it.
>
> Sy,
>
>
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