Re: [tlug] Mandrake vs. Red Hat

[Matt Doughty <mdoughty@example.com>]

On Wed, Jun 05, 2002 at 07:34:22PM +0900, Jonathan Byrne wrote:
> Charles Muller (acmuller@example.com) wrote:
> 
> 
> Red Hat gets in your way a lot less, while being pretty similiar
> to Mandrake in layout (naturally enough, Mandrake being based on 
> it).  I also had much better luck with printing in Red Hat; Mandrake
> uses CUPS and my printer didn't work in a default Mandrake install 
> (same printer, same gimpprint driver, but lprng instead of cups
> works under RH).  My dad uses Mandrake and has also had a lot of
> printing trouble; that seems to be a major topic in Mandrake 
> forums.

I find it mind boggling that something could get in the way more
than RH, but I digress. 

> 
> Debian?  I'm leaning strongly toward moving to Debian in my
> Copious Free Time.  Apt-get is very nice.  Works the way
> URPMI ought to work, maybe b/c URPMI is an attempt (not entirely
> successful) to glue apt-get features onto RPM.
> 
> Debian is worth a shot.  Connectiva is also said to have
> added apt features to rpm quite successfully.  Might be worth
> a look.

I can't think of any reason to use RH over debian. The install
might not be as flashy, but once you are installed everything
else is better. As far as binary package based distros I really
don't think anything I have seen compares to Debian period. You
can't make a mistake switching.

> 
> Somebody will no doubt jump in here and promote Gentoo.
> It seems like a good distro, but whether or not it's right
> for you depends on how much you want to roll up your sleeves
> and make it work, and how much you want it to Just Work.  If
> the former is your thing, it's worth a look.
> 

Heh, gentoo is fun.  It lets you get as close to the metal
as you like, and it doesn't protect you from anything. 
It is also lots of fun to build everything from source. It
isn't a good choice for people who don't have time
to wait for apps to roll from source.  I use it home which
shows how valuable my time is right now. :P

--Matt