Unsatisfied with RedHat

[sean9182]

I've had RedHat7.1 for two months or so and am completely unsatisfied. So now I am prepared to post the eternal question: Which distribution is the best/most preferred? (advantages/disadvantages, likes/dislikes) I appreciate all opinions. On a sidenote, Gnome or KDE?

-sean9182

[lm72]

Depends what you are looking for.
I love SuSe distros but their not the easiest figure out.(It bit hard to get use to at first)
Like slackware a lot power their if learn how to use it.
Slackware is good.(For command line lovers)

If looking for ease of use give Mandrake shot.

Alex

[ 28 June 2001: Message edited by: lm72 ]

[godot]

debian
that's all you need

[Malakin]

It would help a lot of you were very specific about what you did and didn't like about redhat 7.1. Personally I like Mandrake but I wouldn't suggest it for everything or everyone. KDE 2.1x is great.

[Strike]

:cool: Debian :cool:

And if you have problems, come to irc.openprojects.net, channel #lno or #debian and you can find help.

[wing]

You will never get an consentaneous answer from others on this topic. The best way is to try several distros and select your favorite. Anyway, I am using RH71 and I like it.

[ille_pugil42]

Mandrake, Redhat: UserFriendly, Mainly GUI

Slackware: editing text files to get anything to work right (getting your hands dirty)

Debian: you need it, apt-get it

SuSe: Somewhere in between Mdk and Slack

this information garnished from personal experience and the distro nhf (http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/distros/distronhf.html)

BTW, my personal pref is Slackware with Enlightenment, but I was brought up on the command prompt.

[Keyser Soze]

Did you try KDE and Gnome both under redhat 7.1? What exactly did you not like?

[reboot]

For a totally raw newbie, MDK8, and load ALL the windows managers, so you can play. Personal preference is Gnome, and KDE runs a close second. The others are just too unusual for someone used to MS stuff.
For a semi-seasoned user, Debian, or RH probably. A little more difficult to install, but full featured.
For the masochist (command line junkie), Suse, or Slack.

[chris31_80]

RH is so bloated it isn't even funny. Slacware is fast, but short of features. If you wanna learn more of UNIX and the command lines (Slack is UNIXesque), then try Slack.

[sean9182]

Originally posted by Keyser Soze:
<STRONG>Did you try KDE and Gnome both under redhat 7.1? What exactly did you not like?</STRONG>

I've only had redhat 7.1 with Gnome. I was hoping for something a little more command-line oriented to dive into. Not to mention, a wee bit smaller. RedHat is somewhat bloated with old man pages, and tons of applications, half of which I have no clue what they do. From what everybodu is saying, Slackware sounds too difficult for me at this point, but Debian might be a choice. As for Gnome, its OK...I was just wondering what advantages KDE offered.

-sean9182

[ 29 June 2001: Message edited by: sean9182 ]

[saithan]

have you tried running RH7.1 in text mode?
personally I love rh7.1, I use GNOME but for navigating the system i just keep a terminal window open and work in command line.
after seeing debian (which was nice) and SuSe (also nice) I came to the conclusion that after trying gnome in all 3 distros they are relativlly the same. so really it is upto you weather you want to try other distros (good idea) or experiment more with what you have and unlock the full potential of redhat. I imagine that if i learn all i can about the distro i have maybe when i try the other the switch will not be a shock and i will know enough to feel at home on any distro (I'm making assumptions).

[fancypiper]

What bloat are you talking about? I like RedHat6.2 just fine and I mostly configure by editing text files as some stuff I just don't like (linuxconf, for example).

Don't install everything but do install all of the development packages so that you can compile and install.

Linux is linux and you can symlink things to your liking and have it your way.

It took me around 4 installs to start getting a handle on it. I started with everything and after I learned a little, I started selecting specific programs and services for installing.

My Linux is getting smaller and smaller and faster and faster unlike Windows98.

Plus the error messages are more understandable and you have a choice other than clicking OK. :rolleyes:

[evulish]

LFS and Blackbox!

`nuff said
:)

[Anomaly]

General Preferences I have seen over years.. (Ok, maybe not over years)

For newbies: Mandrake/Red Hat/Suse
For uber 1337 geeks: Debian/Gentoo/Slackware/LFS

*My* desktop Preference...
Fluxbox

Although its just my preference.. you might hate it...

[brokeitagain]

I went through redhat, caldera, mandrake, then debian just for a look before settling on SuSE.

All these systems have their merits and its really a case of which you feel most comfy with.
I like suse mainly because I am not overly knowledgeable re linux as yet and SuSE, for me at least, makes the learning process that little bit easier. sometimes can be a pain to work out, but their support is very good, the boxed product comes with buckets of apps etc (as do most distros) and there is something about their silly little lizard logo that makes it seem a bit more friendly :)

KDE or Gnome or what ever - again what makes you comfy, I like KDE. You do have a choice of which desktop to use at login, so why not experiment with all of them!

As for command line, soon you will find yourself at the command line more often than the desktop, so eventually which ever desktop you are using will not really make that much difference anyway.

[Choozo]

Originally posted by AcEM
General Preferences I have seen over years.. (Ok, maybe not over years)

For newbies: Mandrake/Red Hat/Suse
For uber 1337 geeks: Debian/Gentoo/Slackware/LFS

*My* desktop Preference...
Fluxbox

Although its just my preference.. you might hate it... There's nothing like relighting 'distro war topics' that have been left dormant for about 2 years, eh? :D

[Anomaly]

It was :confused:

I was searching for something.. and it was on top. Sorry :D

Anyways... N00bs can now gain an insight of my genius... So its not a complete loss :p

[Fryguy8]

depending on how adept you are at linux, you may want to look at linux from scratch. It was my second "distro" and if you like learning by getting dirty, it's the way to go.

Debian is another nice choice, though it usually lags behind in versions

Gentoo is great for a desktop environment as well.

[garskoci]

Bloated? Don't install everything. Use custom install, then pick and choose.
Command line? Start up a terminal session. All the command line that you will need!

[genuine143]

Hmmm lets see..

I started using Linux a month ago and tried MDK 8, RH 8 and RH and just ordered My MDK 9.1.

To me I think that RH9 is not so stable !! Like I've said in a post it freezes when I use kde as a normal user !! :mad: anyway for the ease of use I think MDK is the best RH is ok but needs getting abit used to although it gets easier by the day when you use regularly !!

Cheerz

[do_guh_new]

Bloated? Don't install everything. Use custom install, then pick and choose.
Command line? Start up a terminal session. All the command line that you will need!

ya exactally, I was just gonna type the same exact thing. He says redhat has too many packages installed, well you're the one that installed them upon installation. And this may come to a shock to some of you but redhat actually has a command line too!