[TriLUG] What's the Fairest Distro of All?

[Marc M]

1) Can I just use any Fedora Core 3 packages I find for RHEL/CentOS 4?

>>rpms are rpms, i havent used centos, doesn't it use rpms?  You
should be fine unless you have problems with a specific package or
something.

2) What's the distro seeing the most activity for add-on software these
days?

>>Probably RH but I am sure the Debian people would have something to
say about that.  Depends on who you ask, RH is well known by the
'suits' of the world many of whom think that all of Linux = Red Hat.  
Some ISP types that I know, act like Debian is all that ever
existed...

3) Is there a website anywhere with a grid that tallies such
information? I thought Distrowatch would be the thing, but turned up
null there.

>>No se' Sen~or.

4) Without trying to start any flamewars here - what's everyone's
favorite distros to use for a WinXP replacement (everyday desktop "heavy
lifting") and why?

>>Please don't clutter up the sacredness of Linux by making a
comparison of the two!  :)

>>My favorite distro for general desktop use is Fedora (1 version
behind whatever he brand new one is).  I like it stable but fairly
new.  I find myself getting more and more into other distros for
specific purposes, like Helix or Knoppix for Forensic stuff.  (started
Forensiclug.com fyi).  Whenever I identify a use for myself I will try
a differrent distro.  I may look into the new SuSE Pro, I love their
look and feel but that's not enough of a reason to really immerse
myself in a new distro.

5) Should I just shut up and subscribe to Linux Journal or Linux
World? :-)

>>great mags, LJ is over my head about 85% of the time.  :) Maybe
you'll have better luck with it.  I need a Linux mag that EXPLAINS
more on a user level since we are all not Linus Torvalds or running
NASA.  Sometimes I think I could understand pure binary itself better
than some of what is written in LJ. :)

Peace,

Marc



On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 15:02:02 -0500, Randy Barlow <rpbarlow at eos.ncsu.edu> wrote:
> Although one of the lesser "user friendly" types of distributions, Gentoo
> has a really nice package management system that gives you a really wide
> variety of software to choose from.  Gentoo can be pretty difficult to
> install since it doesn't have a traditional installer, so it may not be what
> you are looking for in terms of a "Win XP replacement" (you can always
> install KDE or Gnome on just about any distribution if a good desktop
> program is what you are looking for), but I really like it for how much you
> learn about Linux from the process.  I personally haven't seen any
> distribution with a package manager that gives you such a wide variety of
> software to choose from either.  But if you go Gentoo, be prepared to spend
> ~3 days to install it!
> 
> Randy
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org]On Behalf
> Of James Brigman
> Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 2:55 PM
> To: trilug at trilug.org
> Subject: [TriLUG] What's the Fairest Distro of All?
> 
> Just when I thought I had a handle on the world of Linux distros, things
> change out from under me.
> 
> I'm running CentOS 4. I like it OK, but I've been looking for ready-to-
> go RPM packages and am surprised to find that there are few, if any, on
> the major websites for CentOS 4. For example, I tried to install a DVD
> reader app, and came up short on the libraries required for the app to
> run under CentOS/RHEL 4.
> 
> I've started looking for other packages for CentOS, and am finding that
> the other distros have pulled out ahead of CentOS/RHEL 4 for RPM or YUM
> package popularity: Mandrake 10 seems to have a lot going on, along with
> Debian, SuSE 9, and even Fedora Core 1, 2 and 3.
> 
> The questions I've got are:
> 1) Can I just use any Fedora Core 3 packages I find for RHEL/CentOS 4?
> 2) What's the distro seeing the most activity for add-on software these
> days?
> 3) Is there a website anywhere with a grid that tallies such
> information? I thought Distrowatch would be the thing, but turned up
> null there.
> 4) Without trying to start any flamewars here - what's everyone's
> favorite distros to use for a WinXP replacement (everyday desktop "heavy
> lifting") and why?
> 5) Should I just shut up and subscribe to Linux Journal or Linux
> World? :-)
> 
> JKB
> 
> --
> TriLUG mailing list        : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> TriLUG Organizational FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
> TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
> TriLUG PGP Keyring         : http://trilug.org/~chrish/trilug.asc
> 
> --
> TriLUG mailing list        : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> TriLUG Organizational FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/
> TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
> TriLUG PGP Keyring         : http://trilug.org/~chrish/trilug.asc
>