Re: total linux newbie / advice appreciated
On Sun, Jul 28, 2002 at 06:30:29PM +1000, ccos wrote:
> hello,
>
> i would like to install a linux distro
> onto a g4 867. just wondering what advice
> people might have as to which one to go with?
>
> suse looks kind of nice, i was thinking about
> debian, but i'm not sure anymore.
>
> basically i would like the system which will
> run most smoothly with the least installation troubles
> from the get go. i'll eventually want to learn to tweek the system,
> and try out different distros, but a lot further down the track.
> i need to learn a great deal and i would like
> to minimize the frustration of not being
> able to even install the thing.
Those are kind of conflicting goals. Debian is a completely open
system, with a lot of developer support but not as much user
support. All support that I'm aware of is voluntary, you could check
out
http://lists.debian.org/debian-user
to see what it looks like. The other distributions try to make
the user's job easier by hiding details and making some defaults
mandatory. Debian started is more oriented towards programmers
because of its overriding principle of providing free software.
But there is activity to try to make it more user-friendly.
So the reason I say they're conflicting is, how do you learn?
By making mistakes. The other distributions don't give you
nearly as many learning opportunities :-)
OTOH, Debian definitely has the most advanced and therefore
user (administrator) friendly packaging system. That is the
reason many people switch to it, because they're tired of
hassling with dependencies in other distros.
>
> things i'll eventually want to have working:
>
> gnu-step
> gnu 3dkit (obj-c opengl lib)
> gcc
> ruby and ruby opengl
> gimp
>
> i assume all distros come with the gcc and gimp,
> what about gnu step though, will it work on top
> of all distros?
> what about open-gl and opengl dev in linux?
> are the cocoa obj-c opengl classes functional
> through gnu-step in all distros?
I can't speak to that; you can search at packages.debian.org.
> what about sound support?
> i have a motu 2408 sound card.
> are there drivers out there for stuff like that?
> if so do the drivers work with all distros,
> and cross platform?
>
> i'll eventually be using supercollider3 ( www.audiosynth.com ) which
> has not yet even been completely ported to linux.
> the coreaudio stuff is being reimplemented w/ jack:
> http://jackit.sourceforge.net/
> would this indicate that i should pick one distro
> over another? is there a difference betwen the way
> different distros handle audio?
For hardware issues, you're almost always talking about kernel
code. That will be the same for any distro, at least I assume it's as
easy to change kernels in other distros as it is in Debian. Sound
for G4s is a relatively recent kernel development.
If you install Debian, you need the new-powermac (2.4) kernel.
--
*------v--------- Installing Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 --------v------*
| <http://www.debian.org/releases/woody/installmanual> |
| debian-imac (potato): <http://debian-imac.sourceforge.net> |
| Chris Tillman tillman@voicetrak.com |
| May the Source be with you |
*----------------------------------------------------------------*
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