The Best Linux

S

ShockingAlberto

Guest
Well, you can buy CDs for a few quid each, with a couple of quid for p+p, from several places: People with good connections and good cd-writers just burn the ISOs, and then sell them for hardly anything more than the cost of the CDs and the Postage :)

I believe AOL has completely withdrawn from any possabilitys of buying RH. I use RH, and allthough now it seems a bit limiting(not enough options for the install type, means you have to spend an hour or so going through all the available packages :sleeping:, plus lack of WM choice), however i can't see anyone having problems installing or using it.

Also, if you have an unmetered ISp, then why not download through the night? I downloaded two 650meg ISOs on a 56k :) Laugh all you want, but doing so was neither tedious nor depriving me of any net activities.
 
S

(Shovel)

Guest
That would be cool. Though I'm waiting til summer cause at the moment I have to revise for A level exams - I spent 3 hours finishing off Deus Ex to remove one distraction, the last thing I need to do is start playing with linux immediately.

I did try to set up.. ermmm.. Slackware from a PC-Plus DVD a while ago but never could get KDE to boot.
As a result I feel a screaming urge to get the easiest Linux I can get and stick with it. I usually learn quick, but... arrrrgh!

Are the distros that come on cover disks in a full state usually? or do they tend to be lacking in any respect? 'Cause I suppose that would be the easiest option, short of paying for a box.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Guest
I dunno... I've never bought any Linux magazines*, and i never will do. Someone, probebrly inttelligent, said on a BW collumn a few months ago, that the kind of people who buy hobby magazines are the kind that are ``wannabes''. I sort of aggree, so i wouldn't know what their coverdisks are like...


*That digitiser loving part of me wanted to say 'books' rather than 'magazines', however i knew it would confuse all you none digi people :/
 
B

bids

Guest
I have used a couple of the distro's from cover CD's - Suse 7.1 and Redmond - and although they aren't the best versions (imho) they do contain the full monty package, with all applications, etc.

If you're new to Linux, I would deffo give Mandrake a try. It's piss easy to install, has support for a wide range of hardware and has all the apps you could need to get going (Apache, Samba, MySQL, StarOffice, etc, etc).

I'm currently running boxed Redhat 7.2 which works a treat too, although the included version of Gnome seems real flaky. Lacks the GUI configuration utils that Mandrake has (Harddrake, etc), but once you get a bit more famliar with Linux, you don't really need these.

Real thing with Linux is you don't need a top spec box to run serious apps - my Redhat box is a PIII 600, 128 Mb RAM, 10 Gb harddrive running Samba, Apache and Oracle 8i - been up for 123 days without a re-start :)
 
S

Sawtooth

Guest
Okay this is all very interesting but can someone explain to me why I would need linux say as opposed to Win2000 pro?

are there cool things I can do with it...?

Multitasking I guess...
Lots of free stuff to dl???

I've been tempted in the past but wonder if its really worth the effort

Saw

and I dont mean in a Bill Gates evil empire sense as I have no truck with that.
 
S

(Shovel)

Guest
I share the same view really. But in taking a computer science degree next year I want/need to have lunix available.
I develop web sites too - on the web on unix - and running apache and mySQL on WinXP is hideously unstable.

I think it comes down to what sort of person you are. This is why SuSE appeals to me. It makes an effort to be easy to use in the "windows" sense, but I know that it still has the Linux I need :)

2k/XP are both stable enough to defeat that pro-linux argument but I guess it depends entirely on what you want to do.

My understanding is, that as a "general" OS is is substandard unless you like emulation or rebooting for games etc. Having said that, for devopment - web development in particular - it is a good "investment"
 
B

bids

Guest
For me, it's not about Microsoft bashing - it's about running a stable/secure server. I have installed MS ADS on a Windows 2000 Enterprise Server with Exchange, and as a directory service it's brill. With W2K Pro on the clients, the network is a huge advance over NT4 domains and Novell's NDS in ease of use and administration (although DNS configuration can be a bitch).

Trying to run Web services on these servers is a mare. It opens up the server to a range of security holes, and stability is still not quite there. Linux is the muts nuts when it comes to running Intranets/Web services. It's much more stable, and less prone (relatively) to security flaws. This is the same with RDMS's. There's also a lot of stuff we use that simply won't run on anything but Linux (e.g. Nessus (security vulnerability checker) Snort (Intrusion Detection System), etc.).

Each OS has its niche, and I'm certain other people have differing experiences to mine - Oh, and Linux blows when it comes to games :)
 
B

bids

Guest
Well, if you wanna run the most recent games then you'll struggle with Linux. Although the support for nVidia based cards is pretty good, there are only a few games that will run natively on Linux - Q3, UT come to mind, but not much else. Use your other machine/duel boot setup to run W2K/XP and you should be fine.

Again, as a game server Linux is fast, and far less flaky than a Windows machine.
 
S

Sawtooth

Guest
Why thank you. 39 and still going strong.
THE big four O next year (now thats scarey)

Saw
 
B

bids

Guest
Just for info - just got a copy Mays Linux Format, and the full, two-disk version of Mandrake 8.2 is on the front cover - saves the humungous downloads :)
 
O

old.s-p

Guest
Thanks for that info, I might go and check that out tomoz. Would save my 56k modem for dieing.
 
T

Testin da Cable

Guest
Originally posted by ShockingAlberto
Someone, probebrly inttelligent, said on a BW collumn a few months ago, that the kind of people who buy hobby magazines are the kind that are ``wannabes''. I sort of aggree, so i wouldn't know what their coverdisks are like...
Click to expand...


not necessarily true you know: the only person who could make such a statement would have to be a telepath because it wouldn't be possible for them to stay current in the field were they not :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top Bottom