Brian wrote:

> Hi all,
> I've been wanting to switch to linux for awhile now but am getting
> confused about which distro to try. I've heard great things about
> Mandrake but I've been hearing good things about Fedora also. On a
> Windows geek scale of 1 to 10 I'm a 7 (which would probably be around 2
> for linux... lol) I've heard that mandrake may be having some financial
> problems so would it be wise to learn on it?

I would suggest a Debian based distribution such as knoppix (or even Debian
GNU Linux itself), etc.

The package management system of Debian is really the best that I have
experienced in many years of linux use. One of my gripes about the distros
I grew up with was the need to download an rpm, try to install it, find
that it had dependencies and go looking for the new package as well. At
least that is how things used to be with RedHat. I am told that stuff is
now getting better there too.

If you are really interested in learning everything hands on, go for
Slackware. I have learnt more about linux in 2-3 months of using Slackware
than I did in nearly 2 years of using Redhat. However, Slack is not very
newbie friendly (if that newbie is coming from losedoze).

Btw. there is no such thing as a windows geek

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Madhusudan Singh <spammers-go-here@spam.invalid> wrote:

> If you are really interested in learning everything hands on, go
> for Slackware. I have learnt more about linux in 2-3 months of
> using Slackware than I did in nearly 2 years of using Redhat.

Actually you have learned slackware, not linux. Mastering
slackware's clumsy, old-fashioned command line interface means that
you have mastered a clumsy old-fashioned interface and not any more
than that.

> However, Slack is not very newbie friendly (if that newbie is
> coming from losedoze).

The only reason you might select slackware is if you come from a
unix background. Otherwise, Debian or Suse are probably the better
choices. You will learn just as much about linux and you will
learn it a lot faster because of the more modern interfaces.

> Btw. there is no such thing as a windows geek

Most geeks are windows geeks. Windows is a good OS and that is why
it is so popular.

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On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 03:08:56 GMT, rm wrote:
>
> Windows is a good OS and that is why it is so popular.

Yep, best virus magnet on the market.

Of course, forcing oem vendors to load the OS or not be able to sell
MS products helped until the goverment brought a lawsuit.

rm wrote:

> Most geeks are windows geeks. Windows is a good OS and that is why
> it is so popular.

Hi!
The subject was about OS's. Windows is NOT an OS and has never been. It
is GUI for the underlying OS, be it DOS or NT.
And in our place "windows geek" is the guy who keeps the windows
spotless in our shopping centre.

Have fun

Stanislaw
Slack user from Ulladulla.

Madhusudan Singh wrote:
> Brian wrote:

>>I've been wanting to switch to linux for awhile now but am getting
>>confused about which distro to try. I've heard great things about
>>Mandrake but I've been hearing good things about Fedora also. On a
>>Windows geek scale of 1 to 10 I'm a 7 (which would probably be around 2
>>for linux... lol) I've heard that mandrake may be having some financial
>>problems so would it be wise to learn on it?
>
> I would suggest a Debian based distribution such as knoppix (or even Debian
> GNU Linux itself), etc.
>
> The package management system of Debian is really the best that I have
> experienced in many years of linux use. One of my gripes about the distros
> I grew up with was the need to download an rpm, try to install it, find
> that it had dependencies and go looking for the new package as well. At
> least that is how things used to be with RedHat. I am told that stuff is
> now getting better there too.

Yes, I must agree. For ease of package management, apt-get and aptitude
are wonderful tools. Fedora is an experimental distro that I would stay
away from (unless you like to troubleshoot broken code).

Slackware is great for its simplicity and lack of bureaucracy. In my
experience, the latest version of Slackware tends to be the most current
and untainted (closest to upstream source) distro available. I
personally use both slackware and debian. For desktops, I give
slackware a slight edge over debian testing (sarge). For servers, I
prefer debian stable.

> If you are really interested in learning everything hands on, go for
> Slackware. I have learnt more about linux in 2-3 months of using Slackware
> than I did in nearly 2 years of using Redhat. However, Slack is not very
> newbie friendly (if that newbie is coming from losedoze).
>
> Btw. there is no such thing as a windows geek

There is but I haven't met too many. My definition of a windows geek is
someone comfortable hacking the registry. The registry ranks up there
as one of the dumbest ideas in the evolution of computing (IMO). It's
the ultimate single point of failure which fails all too often. Perhaps
more an implementation lapse than a theoretical one but bad nonetheless.

Ed

rm wrote:

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>
> Madhusudan Singh <spammers-go-here@spam.invalid> wrote:
>
>> If you are really interested in learning everything hands on, go
>> for Slackware. I have learnt more about linux in 2-3 months of
>> using Slackware than I did in nearly 2 years of using Redhat.
>
> Actually you have learned slackware, not linux. Mastering
> slackware's clumsy, old-fashioned command line interface means that
> you have mastered a clumsy old-fashioned interface and not any more
> than that.
>

Your remarkable knowledge about linux really showed in your worthy comment
above. Thanks for taking the time.

["Followup-To:" header set to alt.os.linux.]
On 2004-10-04, rm wrote:
>
> Madhusudan Singh <spammers-go-here@spam.invalid> wrote:
>
>> If you are really interested in learning everything hands on, go
>> for Slackware. I have learnt more about linux in 2-3 months of
>> using Slackware than I did in nearly 2 years of using Redhat.
>
> Actually you have learned slackware, not linux. Mastering
> slackware's clumsy, old-fashioned command line interface means that
> you have mastered a clumsy old-fashioned interface and not any more
> than that.

On the contrary, you will have learned a powerful and efficient
interface that is applicable to ALL versions of Linux, as well as
to all versions of Unix.

The differences between Linux distros (and other Unices) are far
less on the command line than on the point'n'click interfaces.

--
Chris F.A. Johnson http://cfaj.freeshell.org
================================================== =================
My code (if any) in this post is copyright 2004, Chris F.A. Johnson
and may be copied under the terms of the GNU General Public License

rm wrote:


>
> Most geeks are windows geeks. Windows is a good OS and that is why
> it is so popular.

Best laff I've had in ages. Mucho Grassy Ass.

--
Ian Bell

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In alt.os.linux.slackware Chris F.A. Johnson <cfajohnson@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2004-10-04, rm wrote:
>> Madhusudan Singh <spammers-go-here@spam.invalid> wrote:

>>> If you are really interested in learning everything hands on,
>>> go for Slackware. I have learnt more about linux in 2-3 months
>>> of using Slackware than I did in nearly 2 years of using
>>> Redhat.

>> Actually you have learned slackware, not linux. Mastering
>> slackware's clumsy, old-fashioned command line interface means
>> that you have mastered a clumsy old-fashioned interface and not
>> any more than that.

> On the contrary, you will have learned a powerful and efficient
> interface that is applicable to ALL versions of Linux, as well as
> to all versions of Unix.

False. The command line is neither powerful nor efficient.
Especially efficient. Go back to sleep.

cordially, as always,

rm

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In alt.os.linux.slackware Ian Bell <ruffrecords@yahoo.com> wrote:
> rm wrote:
>
>
>>
>> Most geeks are windows geeks. Windows is a good OS and that is why
>> it is so popular.
>
> Best laff I've had in ages. Mucho Grassy Ass.

Right. I know you. All the windows users are wrong. Only me and
a small clique of linux users are right. And that's because we're
smarter than everybody else.

You're pathetic. Windows, like all successful operating systems,
has strengths and weaknesses. Most people live with the weaknesses
because of the strengths. But linux users live with linux
weaknesses because their heads are jammed way the fuck up their
asses.

cordially, even to morons,

rm

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