Distribution Decision:

[NicZak.]

My linux know-how is fairly limited, as my exposure to it has been quite brief. I have been using Mandrake 8 for about a month now, and I have a few problems with it.. Booting directly in X is one of them, along with the fairly weak update/software removal features. Granted it installs easily, the boot manager works well (dual boot w/98) and I *think* I like the fact it uses RPM's, but then again I haven't used any other type of package install besides RPM..except for Mesa3d which I still don't think its installed correctly.. Basically I am asking for any thoughts/insight into which distro is the best all around and more importantly..WHY? I mainly use i-net applications, games (limited i know) and some development applications. Thanks in advance for any info-

NicZak

[j.harrison]

I've been a happy Drake 8 user for about 3 months now. It's my first experience with Linux, and it's made the transition easy. Lately though, to speed up my education, I've been using virtual terminals F1-F7 and living almost entirely in CLI. It's harsh, but I'm learning alot quicker this way.

I've been reading that Debian & Slackware are the 'hardcore' distros, and I expect that one day I'll be giving them a try. In my immediate future is FreeBSD, which will go on a 5 year old Packard Bell that I have. I never upgraded the hardware, so FreeBSD is a good fit, and since Linux/Unix are so closely related, the learning will generally be applicable to Mandrake.

My feeling is: explore what you've got completely, and once you feel as though you're ready to move on, go Debian ('cause that seems to be more popular here, so you'll get great support on this BBS). As for me, I think I still have a ways to go before I'm done discovering Linux through the Drake.

BTW... If you don't want to boot into X, you don't have to. You can edit /etc/inittab from runlevel 5 to runlevel 3, and after that you'll boot into CLI. I'm just going to leave it the way it is, and use the virtual terminals to bounce around in CLI.

[ 31 July 2001: Message edited by: j.harrison ]

[EyesWideOpen]

Probably the most logical step (up?) from Mandrake is Red Hat. From what I hear they are very similar, with Mandrake being the more hold-your-handish of the two. And Red Hat uses RPM for package management as well.

I've only used Debian (2.2 for a short while) and Red Hat (5.0, 6.0, 6.2, 7.1 -- which I currently use) so my experience with different distros is limited but I've never had a problem with Red Hat that didn't get solved.

Welcome to the board, by the way. ;)

[ 31 July 2001: Message edited by: EyesWideOpen ]

[s1nn]

I have recently install drake 8 and have had Freebsd for awhile I like both for different reasons the learning curve with drake is not quite as harsh as it is with bsd but there is no questioning the differences in stability

[MandK_10]

Without intending to sound like a jerk, try typing 'Distro' into the search feature of this site and set the filter to search in subject only, and set back for a while. You should get a plethora of posts on this very subject. Some have better information than others. plan on about an hour or so for reading time.

[X_console]

There is an NHF on distributions: http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel