WARNING - NEWBIE QUESTION!

[Brian Densmore]

> > 
> >  Redhat - the Original distro. Has personal and 
> > professional versions, not geared for the newbie 
> > 	per say (sic?).
> > 
> 
> It's per se.  And a newbie can use Red Hat fairly easily.  
> Their distro like
> all others can be server or workstation and the install is 
> fairly easy.
Thanks, I knew I spelled it wrong. Just couldn't think. As I said it was
paraphrased from a review. Redhat is easy to use and install, but there are
easier ones - like Mandrake.

> 
> >  Mandrake - Industrial strength business oriented
> > distro
> 
> Based on Red Hat, meaning they put stuff in the same place as 
> Red Hat and
> stay compatible. 
For the most part, not 100%

> Probably the most newbie oriented and I 
> would say has some
> of the best help available via listserv or several support 
> websites and
> forums.  Email me if you need help finding them.  They throw 
> in all the best
> stuff in their distro and then some, along with a lot of their own
> customization to menus and config tools.  These guys are out 
> to help the
> user.  Is it showing that I like Mandrake?
No argument here, an excellent distro. But I am now a Suse convert.

> > 
> >  Debian - GEEK oriented, definitely not for the newbie 
> > (masochists excluded)
> > 
> 
> Haven't used it, but it probably has some of the most vocal 
> users.  They
> seem to have this great tool called apt-get.  I'm sure you 
> can figure it
> out.  I would say from the info I have read that they have 
> one of the most
> solid/stable and free distros.  If you want only GPL 
> software, this is the
> place to go.
Tried it, didn't like it. Definitely not suitable for non-IT oriented
persons. Very technical, down in the workings distro. Apt-get has
competition now in the newest distros. Installed two packages in Suse this
morning and it went out and loaded the 3 other RPM's I needed, no questions
asked. I bet Mandrake and Redhat now do the same thing. 
> 
> >  TurboLinux - Asian version of business oriented 
> > distro.
> 
> 
> Agreed.  They are also doing lots of work in the clustering area.
Yes, that's what I was looking for. So does Suse; Suse comes with Beowulf
and S390 support "out of the box".

>  
> >   Slackware - newbie oriented.
> 
> How do you get this conclusion?  I think it should say expert 
> oriented.  If
> you use this you better know where the config files are and 
> have a favorite
> text editor.
Old prejudice, it was my first copy (I found it easy back then) and they
have changed a lot since version 1. This isn't your grandfather's Slackware,
but it still doesn't come near Mandrake or Suse. Again I am just reporting
what I remember from the article I read in Linux Mag. I have Suse on 2
machines, Mandrake on 2, and Corel/debian on another (yes, I have a three
computer home network, 1 traveling, and 1 internet server [Mandrake]). The
debian is going to be replaced by Suse real soon.

> 
> I always have an opinion, but I try to keep it to myself 
> unless trying to
> keep someone from buying crappy hardware.
> 
Strange coincidence! I always have an opinion too!
;')>

If I had a friend considering Linux, I would recommend they get a shrink
wrapped version of either Mandrake or Suse (this is not flame bait for those
who prefer to download for free, just a recommendation for the non-technical
user - also helps keep those companies going). Unless they needed to travel
to Asia and work, then I would recommend TurboLinux.

More of MNSHO,
Brian