Re: installing Woody on an older laptop
From: "Michael" <mrlammr@excite.com>
PLEASE fix your line length. If Excite won't do it (which wouldn't surprise
me ) don't post to lists from Excite
> Why do people rave on about Linux when it is soooo cryptic to install??
Well, many users, particularly Debian types, argue that if you can't cope
with this you shouldn't be using Linux at all. I think that's wrong, but I
would say that if you find Debian cryptic, you shouldn't be using Debian
(yet). Start with RedHat, Mandrake, Caldera or SuSE, all of which will
probably work better for the 'average Joe'. Better still, start with
TurboLinux, which is Debian based, so when you're more comfortable
(particularly, when you have a working X config!) you'll be able to move to
a pure Debian system easily.
> The programmers would go a lot further if they made it more so the average
Joe
> could have it autodetect their hardware...
Really, the "programmers" couldn't care less about the average Joe's overall
problems. That's the only problem with the Debian process. The programmers
are individuals who are working on a small piece of the system and want
their piece to work well. _They_ don't actually need hardware
autodetection - their systems are already configured. So hardware detection
has always been a feature of the commercial distros. I think TurboLinux has
just released the source for theirs, so it may make it into Debian. I'm sure
there are people in the Debian organization who would like to have good
hardware detection and configuration, but the problem is always finding
someone self-interested enough to write the software and then maintain it.
> (Mandrake??) or at least pick ONE way to do a task and stick with it...
Why? Given that logic, we should all just stick with the "Windows Way
(TM)". The beauty of Linux is that there are any number of ways to do
anything. I know people who still think that dselect is a pretty nifty tool
:-)
> It tends to confuse unlerned people really fast when you talk about "X"???
Well, you do have to learn a few things. But I'm sure that it is no more
difficult to configure Linux from scratch than Windows. After all, how many
people do you know who have taken a blank system, with parts not
specifically designed for Windows, and installed a Windows OS. Particularly
using NT - which is more intended to reach the same market as Linux than the
Windows 9x OSes. If you were to buy a system with parts that were intended
for Linux, with Linux already loaded as the OS, you wouldn't have any of
this trouble.
--
derek
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