Originally posted by Wheelywhat's wrong with Knoppix?
z00t, this kind of advocacy doesn't help the Linux cause much you know.
While I understand your enthusiasm you need to wait until people are ready to try Linux. Many Windows users are very happy with their system.
Many Windows users would absolutely hate Linux as it is today. In fact, there are many things about Linux distributions that I absolutely h ...[text shortened]... doesn't provide everything for everybody and in my view, that isn't what it's about anyway.
Originally posted by Wheelywhy not use Gentoo and recompile for the individual targets (not every box, just every kind of box)? would that give better performance?
I also firmly believe that for the very best support, performance and price you need to be brave and hire a Unix admin and use Slackware.
Originally posted by jimslyp69PC Advisor magazine (UK) just recently had a DVD attached that included four linux distros, along with a bunch of windows stuff: Ubuntu, Knoppix, Damn Small Linux, and Gentoo.
No he joined to make friends and chat. 😞
Anyways. Half the problems that are the thorn in the side of MS users are caused by LINUX loving code lickers that are hell bent on making life a misery for everday people.
I agree that it was once unfair the way that Windows was forced upon consumers, but that's the world of commerce for you. Now we have a ch ...[text shortened]... nd emails from loved ones?
Viva Bill Gates I say
ps I still reckon IE sucks though.
www.distrowatch.com describes Linux distros.
i think Gentoo is the kind that installs to hard drive, like Fedora. Gentoo is source-based, it recompiles the source so you get better performance for your individual machine.
Knoppix is the original live CD linux, Ubuntu is based on Knoppix, Damn Small Linux is a tiny linux (50 MB; has windowing system) that you can put on small USB pen drive (it's very lean, though).
the other three are live versions; burn each to CD (use "Burn Image" not drag-and-drop on your burner application, because these are bootable images) and you can try them out.
or you could get Linux Developer and User magazine in the UK, i think the current issue has a CD with Kubuntu (Ubuntu with KDE desktop set up), you could start using it right away without burning images.
if you've got > 1GB of RAM you can have the CD load to RAM at boot and get better performance.
for knoppix-based live CDs hit and at boot, it will show lists of boot parameters. i use "knoppix toram screen=1028x768 depth=24".
the live CDs should mount your Windows partitions as read-only, but you should have them backed up anyway prior to starting.
Originally posted by zeeblebotThis is a personal opinion but having looked into Gentoo (it sounds like my kind of thing) the portage application turned be right off. The beauty of slackware, for me, is that you don't really ever use these god awful installers. I have seen so many systems, even production ones, blow things up because of "rpm" and their ilk.
why not use Gentoo and recompile for the individual targets (not every box, just every kind of box)? would that give better performance?
Slackware is built to use the software that is released by the authors. There are no distro specific changes made. This way, you download what you want and install it. You KNOW it will work and you know what has been updated or changed.
So with Gentoo, you need to get Gentoo packages, with Slackware you get exactly what the software authors release and compile it yourself if you want Gentoo like performance. I know you CAN do this with a red hat box but you WILL get into a complete mess because libraries are all over the place and it's full of non-standard configs.
Originally posted by zeeblebotFedora most certainly isn't source based!
PC Advisor magazine (UK) just recently had a DVD attached that included four linux distros, along with a bunch of windows stuff: Ubuntu, Knoppix, Damn Small Linux, and Gentoo.
www.distrowatch.com describes Linux distros.
i think Gentoo is the kind that installs to hard drive, like Fedora. Gentoo is source-based, it recompiles the source so you get ...[text shortened]... dows partitions as read-only, but you should have them backed up anyway prior to starting.
Originally posted by zeeblebotBut unlike Fedora, the sources are compiled at installation time so you can have gentoo compiled for your specific hardware platform. That's what it means when a linux distro is source based.
"i think Gentoo is the [b]kind that installs to hard drive, like Fedora."[/b]
"i think Gentoo is the kind that installs to hard drive, like Fedora. Gentoo is source-based, ..."
that is a period after "Fedora", not a comma.
if i'd said "i think Gentoo is the kind that installs to hard drive; like Fedora, Gentoo is source-based, ...", with a semicolon and comma, you guys would have a point.
2 edits
http://www.tuxmagazine.com , a free online linux magazine (but you have to subscribe, so i suppose not quite free).
discussion of Knoppix live CD:
http://www.tuxmagazine.com/node/1000197
(actually it's a discussion of using VmWare to run a live Linux CD in a virtual machine under Windows, so you can save config info, etc., between sessions and don't have to wait for a long boot time.)
Originally posted by zeeblebotahhh yes!
"i think Gentoo is the kind that installs to hard drive, like Fedora[b]. Gentoo is source-based, ..."
that is a period after "Fedora", not a comma.
if i'd said "i think Gentoo is the kind that installs to hard drive; like Fedora, Gentoo is source-based, ...", with a semicolon and comma, you guys would have a point.[/b]
Gentoo is only recommended if you are in a maximum security prison and you have lots of time to kill. All of that compiling will drive ordinary mortals insane.
Fedora with its thousands of packages available is unbreakable. It supports options like kickstart to roll out installs over a network, something other distros can only drool at. With excellent hardware detection, pleasant user forums and mailing lists it is cooler than a cucumber.
Originally posted by zeeblebotOh, I see what you mean now. Sorry. 😕
if i'd said "i think Gentoo is the kind that installs to hard drive[b]; like Fedora, Gentoo is source-based, ...", with a semicolon and comma, you guys would have a point.[/b]
Of course, it's possible to put just about any linuxdistro on a live-CD, so gentoo (although it's benefit lies in being a source distro) and Fedora could be installed and run from a CD, like any other linux-distro.
Knoppix if my memory doesn't fail me, is in fact Debian (with hardware detection taken from RH). Right?
Originally posted by z00tNothing you can't do better with script or two, I know, I've done it.
Fedora with its thousands of packages available is unbreakable. It supports options like kickstart to roll out installs over a network, something other distros can only drool at. With excellent hardware detection, pleasant user forums and mailing lists it is cooler than a cucumber.
Take their Service Guard package! What a pile of poop!!! I blame HP for that though. Making someone pay vast sums of money for something that with a little thought you can implement with a few lines of perl (for the heartbeat) and scripts. Oh wait!!! That's almost what Service Guard is anyway!!
Originally posted by z00tThe Linux boys at the office I am currently at broke it just a few weeks ago. It went something like this.
Fedora with its thousands of packages available is unbreakable. It supports options like kickstart to roll out installs over a network, something other distros can only drool at. With excellent hardware detection, pleasant user forums and mailing lists it is cooler than a cucumber.
1) Ooooh we need an update to this great software package
2) Ooooh funky feature to automatically update it, lets do that. It even updates all the dependencies
3) update, update, update
4) Hoorah!!
5) Production Change Managment System falls over in a heap
6) Sheepishly ask the Unix boys why it broke
7) It broke because of a perl update which made the DB module unable to update Berkley databases
8) Restore from backup
9) sulk
Just don't do it!