Re: Help with Linux selection please?
Sorry, been away for a bit and only just managing to catch up (hence
the reply to a 10-day-old post).
--- Mike McCarty <mike.mccarty@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> > Lots of folks like Ubuntu.
>
> I've heard a lot of good things about Ubuntu, though I've never
> used it. I've heard two bad(?) things about Ubuntu. One is that
> it, like Mandrake, has a semi-commercial air to it, and some
> suppose that it might turn commercial some time or other.
> The other is that it may be difficult to migrate from Ubuntu
> to some other distro, as it's somewhat non-stock with some
> kernel and other changes.
>
According to th Ubuntu web page "Ubuntu will always be free of charge".
You can read into this what you will (maybe Redhat said something
similar once, but I doubt it). I, however, am willing to take it at
face value. Also, there is enough momentum behind it already so that
if it did turn commercial I would not be surprised if a new free
distribution started off from the latest available Ubuntu.
> Mandrake has gone commercial, and is now called Mandrivia.
> So there is precedent for such a conversion, and if migration
> is an issue, then...
>
I could be wrong, but I think that Mandrake was always commercial.
Initially, however, they tried trading with a "we'll give you the
software for free, but please give us some money if you want" policy,
which didn't work too well and nearly resulted in bankrupcy (now well
in the past). Now they appear to have a "we'll give you the previous
version for free, and most of the current one as well but for the full
current one it will cost you" policy, which is a better way of running
a profit making organisation.
For what it's worth, I have tried Ubuntu and I think it looks good,
although I do have one or two issues with it. For example, I know that
most mice are PS/2 these days but the machine I happened to try it on
has an old serial mouse which Ubuntu didn't pick up. Not a good start.
Bye,
Joe
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