Me again...
Hi,
I joined this list last fall (from a different address) when I was trying to install Woody on an experimental box in the house. I failed to get it running after nearly an entire weekend (network issues, I think), gave up and installed Redhat on that box. I am running Redhat on two boxes in the house and have an iBook running OS X with Fink allowing me to run many of my favorite Linux/OSS packages on it. Fink uses Debain package mgmt tools (apt-get), and I like the way it works. Also, becuase the direction redhat is taking confuses me and I'm not sure I like it, I am with trepidation looking at an attempt to install Debian on my main box.
I have only been using Linux/OSS for about year, and have used Redhat for nearly that entire time (tried Corel Linux, Blue Linux and Lycoris all briefly but settled on RH for ease of use and a more complete distro than the others offered).
I have looked at Debian from time to time and have developed a deep respect for the complete dedication to the principles of OSS that I see, which is my primary motivator for trying Debian. I must say that I am not any kind of copmuter expert, even though I am considered the most tech savvy teacher in my school. I am a 7th grade language arts teacher with not formal copmuter training. I have owned a copmuter for only 2 and a half years, a year of which has been spent in learning and using Linux. By all rights, I am still a newbie, and I have been led to believe that Debian will not be as simple to set up and use as Red Hat (although my experience with Fink indicates that package mgmt is much simpler). All the same, I am eager to sink my teeth in deeper. Installing Fink on my iBook has especially left me with a desire for deeper knowledge.
So, I think I will lurk for a week or two, then when I am on spring break (Week of April 14) I will take the time to back up my /home and other data and take the plunge.
If successful, I believe that I will enjoy partaking of the Debian community just as much, if not more, as I have enjoyed the Red Hat community so far.
I have a site advocating for OSS in schools (school-library.net), and have had banners up for Debian on it for some time. I have Woody discs in the house and offer them on my site. When my own school (partially as a result of a demonstration I did with a Debian/Knoppix CD) decided to upgrade to OSS over the next year to 2 years, I tried to push Debian for all of the old tired Macs that are too feeble to run OS X. I suppose that if I am going to open my mouth, I had better be prepared to follow through, too, another reason to gather some Debian experience.
I do know that many of my local lugmates are big Debfans, although some tout Suse and Slackware highly as well. Very few of them use RH and even fewer Mandrake.
Is that enough rambling to annoy you?
tony
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School-library.net
Read, Connect, Learn!
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