Re: RedHat vs Debian (was Re: Bash Prompt in an XTerm)
> My question to you is how do you find them (which one do you think is
> best; if there is such a thing as 'best'). Any particular features etc
> you prefer on one over the other?
Redhat is *far* easier to install on a slow machine. After installation
is another matter :)
Redhat's installation programs are apparently compiled rather than
interpeted; they move directly from one screen to the next. At some
points in debian, the wait is measured in minutes (particularly module
installation). The installation program constantly looks to check the
current state, which is where most of the wasted time goes.
Redhat's rpm is not as advanced as dpkg (though again, it seems to be
faster). There are some dependency issues it doesn't adress. On the
other hand, if you try to install a package with dependency problems
with dpkg, it informs you which other packages it directly depends on.
rpm does this recursively (why doesn't dpkg, for that matter).
rpm has a built in access method for ftp. Debian has an ftp-mode for
dselect, which can automatically handle any updates.
dselect is almost a nice package. It classifies packages by types, and
handles dependencies. On the other hand, it is a nightmare for
beginners if there is a missing or wrong-version package with dependency
problems, and it is close to unusable without a pentium or better.
The selection of .deb files seems much richer than for .rpm files; i
couldn't find a couple of things i regularly used when i installed
redhat a couple of weeks ago.
>Are there any reviews (as neutral as possible) on how the two compare?
I'm not claiming neutrality, but the above is the closest i've seen :)
> Are they compatible?
partway. the alien package can convert .rpm's to .deb's. Some
dependencies may not translate corectly; i'm not sure.
>How hard is it to move from one to the other?
If nothing else, copy /etc (for reference, not use), keep /home, erase
everything else & just install.
rick
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