On Wed, 2003-11-19 at 11:21, Francisco Roldan wrote: > Hi everydoby, > I have been Redhat Linux fan since version 6. > When i read the news about Red Hat is not going > to release another version (i.e. Red Hat 9.1 or 10), > I felt dissapointed at first, but then I realize that > this is the only way of this company to survive. > I am evaluating moving from Red Hat 9 to other distributions, > and almost all my linux-friends advice me to choose > Debian or Gentoo (Of course, they have only used these distributions). I have used all three. Fedora/RedHat - quick install, lots of good default decisions made. Good device detection and configuration for most things. Can take some configuration to get the servers working together......a fair bit of reading is required to set up t a LAMP server (compared to Debian). Debian - "Woody" is most recent 'stable' release. Getting a little long in the tooth now. I have always had hardware issues with it - no network, or no video - or both. The Gui is configured after the install....but once you get everything going, it's pretty good. There are some issues with source being in the "wrong" place for setup instructions written for RedHat or RPM-based systems.....and I have had some trouble compiling things on it for this reason. Fixable....but more time and more learning if you don't already know. For a newbie, you may have a LOT to learn to get Debian up and running fully: X/video, nvidia mobos / video, etc...etc.... Gentoo - I have done a Stage 1 install that failed.....and several stage 3 installs that all worked 100%. An install - including downloading and compiling xfree, a window manager (I use fluxbox on Gentoo) and a browser and mail program...can take a day...and would be fairly daunting for a Linux newbie not able to follow instructions to the letter....or make minor adaptations to suit their own requirements. The faster your machine, the faster all that software will compile. The result is *awesome*....a real fast system.....but if anything goes wrong and you don't know Portage (the package managment system) then you have some reading to do. My Gentoo installs to a system with a nForce 2 mobo and nVidia video card went OK....but after the install you need to make sure the right modules are loaded or you find you have no network....and have to work out what the name of the modules are. "Insmod" fixes it in seconds.....but you need to know the name of the module. :-) Bottom line.....if you aren't an experienced Linux user, don't experiment in a WORK environment with Debian or Gentoo. Go home...play with them....become comfortable with the way they do things and what they need......THEN use them at work. -- Steve Withers <swithers@xxxxxxxxxx>
