On Mon, 2004-02-09 at 01:10, Krikket wrote: > I'm fairly new to the world of Debian, and it's varients. To get to the > point where I'm at, I've been playing around and installed a number of > distributions. (SuSE, Fedora Core 1, Red Hat 9, Debian, Knoppix, Gentoo, > Mandrake, FreeBSD, and probably one or two others that I'm forgetting.) > I've been using Unix derivitives since 1988 or so, although usually as a > user, not as an admin. > > This recent thread on Knoppix took me by surprise. From my point of view, > it has out-performed the other Linuxes in one way or another. (My problem > with the standard Debian install is with configuring the kernel. At this > point, I just don't get it. I need to learn a lot more before I can do > that part on my own.) The rest of it, no problem. I *did* do a Gentoo > install, including the bootstrap process. I just cheated with the kernel, > and used the "genkernel" feature. Please note, that this does not mean > that I'm "stupid user", but rather that I'm still learning. > > Besides, I don't see why I should have to go through hell just to get a > system running. I want something that's simple to use. Enough so, that I > can have confidence in reccomending it to my friends. (In this case, > coworkers who are also in the technical-support department of my company.) > We want something that just works. We have a technical clue, but don't > feel that you should be required to be a "real programmer" to install an > OS. (See the Jargon file, if needed.) > > What took me by surprise, when I started poking around with Knoppix is > that it uses a number of different branches off the tree. To get gnome > running, I had to use *experimental*. But it is running, and without a > problem. (Although not enough time has passed for me to determine how > truly stable it is. Only a few days so far.) > > But as there are some pretty strong opinions on this subject. So I figure > rather than just listen to people shit-can/defend my recent choice, I'd > ask for some input from those who have been slamming Knoppix. > > What would you suggest as an alternative? I've heard calls for Morphix, > but that's a derivitive of Knoppix. > > Lindows has horrible defaults. (Everything is run as root.) > > LibraNet looks good, but I don't want to pony up some cash until I know > which branch it's based on. Similar difficulties with Mepis and Xandros. > > What am I looking for in my OS? Ease of use, and then stability. I can > deal with some unstability on my desktop, but it's less acceptable on my > server. So the equations are probably reversed for the server. > > So, if we take it as a given that Knoppix is so evil, what do people > reccomend? Bar none, If you want ease of use and ability to merge with Debian easily... and stability. Xandros. I have seen and used Xandros in quite a number of settings. The v2 Desktop Deluxe is, frankly, the best Four Question install I have ever seen. And it just plain works. Everything. Only a couple of downsides. KDE only... well okay one downside. I am a hardcore Debian as default user (pertinent line for /etc/apt/apt.conf): APT::Default-Release "experimental"; So, I choose to play in the broken glass area. But for everyone else, I install Xandros Desktop Deluxe v2. My daughters are Very Happy with it (16 years old and 11 years old). My Wife is Extremely happy with it. My Mother never had a computer before Xandros. My father Hated Linux until I showed him Xandros (Mom and Dad Divorced). My wife's parent now are browsing the Internet with Xandros... even play games on it and on Yahoo! games and so on. People across the street opted to have Windows XP and Xandros on the machine. I think they have maybe used Windows XP twice since I installed it for them. So, since I have become a Xandros Shill now... you better go get it. Worth every penny you spend. -- greg@gregfolkert.net REMEMBER ED CURRY! http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry
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