on Tue, Aug 14, 2001 at 11:28:52PM -0400, Sean Morgan (macinslak@mac.com) wrote: > On Tue, 14 Aug 2001 21:47:07 -0400 > I know I'm gonna piss everyone off, but Debian isn't appropriate for > newbies who actually want to learn unix fundamentals. Apt is a really > great system and all, but it doesn't really fall into the "unix > fundamental" catagory (yet ;). I also see a lot of people talking about > the larger number of packages and ease distribution upgrades in Debian, > the former is actually a detriment to someone who actually wants to learn > how the OS works (hand installs are a learning experience) and the latter > is not a consideration for those wet behind the ears (move to something > civilized later). > Slackware pushes a lot less automation and forces you to actually > learn to use command line utils, edit scripts and text files, and > generally pick up more skills that will actually be valuable if your > travels in unixland should actually take you outside of its hallowed > halls (god forbid). I agree somewhat. I fumbled a recent interview question (plug: geek for hire ;-) recently over what services are required to run a Samba server. NetBIOS name server, natch. Damn Debian all to hell, but what with the packaging system I didn't know, though I've tweaked Samba on client and server side on a good dozen systems. It just works. That said, I think Debian is close enough to the Unix ideal, particularly relative to any RPM-based system I've dealt with, that it makes a good learning system. With Debian, it's very possible to go wading into config files and edit them to your heart's content (other GNU/Linux distros are notorious for their "DON'T EDIT THIS FILE" admonishments). Slack's probably going to put you closer to the iron, what I like about Debian is that you largely have a choice. Let the system handle it for you, largely transparently, and largely functionally, or take matters into your own hands. Another aspect of Debian helpful for the newbie-who-wants-to-learn is that it's easy to get a working, minimal, base system, then craft together a more complex system over time by adding packages. It's sort of like triptronic shifting: you decide when to pull the lever, but the system manages the throttle and the clutch for the cleanest, fasted, smoothest possible shift (note: I drive stick). So there's a high level of engagement with the process, but there's also a support net. I'll note I got my own chops on Unix systems dating back to 1987 (well, the late '70s if you want to be accurate), Red Hat, then Debian, touching a whole lot of other stuff along the way. -- Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/ What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? There is no K5 cabal http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/ http://www.kuro5hin.org Free Dmitry! Boycott Adobe! Repeal the DMCA! http://www.freesklyarov.org Geek for Hire http://kmself.home.netcom.com/resume.html
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