[debian-knoppix] OT: SuSE, Lindows, & Xandros was: Knoppix installed on HD, and alternatives....
<snip>
> Though I woudn't have gone so far as you, I did experience odd and
> unsatisfying results in my several attempts to use (and like!) Suse...
>
<snip>
> > I want to have nothing to do with money making machines
> > such as Xandros, Licorice :) and Lindows.
>
> Then you may be missing just the right solution to your problems. I paid my
> dues over a year ago by signing-up as a "Lindows Insider" even before their
> initial release, just so I could follow its evolution to maturity. I'm
> telling you, this one is quickly getting to the point of being excellent for
> the total newbie. Oh, it's persnickety when you use it on multi-boot
<snip>
I agree with both of you on the SuSE bit. I am testing SuSE Desktop 1 for
a review for my website, and I can't say I really like it. It's not
intuitive, and for $600 USD, I'd rather buy a copy of Xandros and spend
$500 on hardware.
As for Lindows:
I just got my review copy from them early this week, but so far, I'm highly
impressed. It really is the closest thing to a no-brainer for someone used
to Windows that I've seen since Xandros Desktop 1.0 came out last year.
Apt-get works fine, everything I've tried so far works automatically
(including plugging a USB mouse into a running laptop and having it work
automatically, while the laptop pointing device continued to work, and then
removing the mouse and going back to using the built-in pointing device).
Xandros:
This is my current desktop system. I purchased it months ago after reading
a few reviews, including a review of XFM, the Xandros File Manager.
Link:
http://www.consultingtimes.com/articles/xandros/filemanager/filemanager.html
You can also see my review (from April):
http://www.linurati.net/xandros.shtml
I'm hoping to get in on the Xandros 2.0 beta testing, but I'm not hopeful
-- tons of applicants.
The kinds of features and autoconfig stuff put in by Xandros and Lindows is
exactly what Linux needs to win over Windows users. I mean, how many
people want to unmount a CD-ROM drive every time they want to pop the disc
out? How many people are going to edit XF86Config to get their wheel mouse
working? How many people have USB pen drives or digital cameras that they
just want to plug in and see in the file manager (Xandros does this).
Obviously, I love Knoppix, which is why I'm subscribed to this list. It's
a great distro, I've never had trouble installing it with "knx-hdinstall",
and it works like magic with my wireless PCI and PCMCIA letwork cards. I
usually recommend that people try it (and hand out discs) to get them
interested in Linux, and I've impressed my Novell-loving Network
Administrator with it for rescue purposes.
I suppose this is the part of the e-mail where I'm supposed to clarify what
my point is. I guess I mainly wanted to point out that Xandros and Lindows
are really good distros, with the potential to bring Linux to the masses --
those people who could never be Slackware users. If you're happy with what
you have, then stay with it. I'm talking to the people like me. I spent
over two years downloading and installing almost every distro I heard of.
I installed Mandrake, Red Hat, Slackware, and Debian. Probably at least 3
versions of each. I purchased SuSE 7.1, 8.0, and 8.1. I was searching for
the "perfect distro". The one what would detect and configure all my
hardware, and where the wheel-mouse would work out-of-the-box, and where my
USB drive and digital camera would work without me having to compile a
kernel. When I bought Xandros, I found that distro. Just something to
think about for those of you who love Linux, but not all the work it takes
to use some distros.
By the way, did you ever notice that the best distros are based on Debian?
Knoppix, Xandros, Lindows... I know that using the word "best" may cause
religious uproar, but I'm talking ease of use. Average-user compatibility.
I still have a soft spot for Mandrake, my first distro, and for Slackware,
the "clean" Unix-like distro with no ties to anyone, RPM, .deb, or anything
else. I like Mandrake, and I respect Slackware for its purity. But when I
go home and turn on the monitor, I'm using Xandros.
Thanks for listening. Enough of my ramblings.
Shawn
www.linurati.net
Shawn@Linurati.net
--
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