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On Fri, 8 Apr 2011, Neil Winchurst wrote:
Gordon Henderson wrote:Thank you for an interesting answer. I suspect you are right, everyone will just come up with their favourite distro. I will think about what you have said, and I think that I will decide to just go with what pleases me and let everyone else just get on with it. In other words, I will forget all about bothering to get anyone else to move over. That will be a lot more restful, so thanks again,On Fri, 8 Apr 2011, Neil Winchurst wrote:So, I would be interested to hear what other members think. My suggestion above was brought about by my recent experiences with two of the latest distro versions. Other members are sure to have more knowledge about this. Anyone??Ha! Or, LOL, since it's now officially in the OED :) What *exactly* do you want a computer for? And If you have one, what do you want to do with it? It seems to me that most people have computers because it's the thing to have - you just have to have one... Then there's what you do with it... Email? Web? Social Media? Or actual work? (Whatever that is ;-) (Or stealing music and videos, or even paying for them!) Then there's games, but let's face it - if you're really into games, there is no choice other than MS Windoze. Liunx games just don't come close - yet. So you need a box with a screen and a button marked "email", another marked "interweb" and another marked "word processor". The rest is just a waste of CPU and memory resources. Oh, you want a pretty picture in the background that changes every 5 minutes, transparent windows so you can see the picture, fancy 3D effects to spin and rotate windows and so on ... Would it make you work faster? Doubt it, but it's what being sold to you through fancy adverts on TV and smiling sales droids in the shops, etc., so obviously it's something you must have. Then there's the whole desktop metaphor... Drag a file to the desktop, or keep it in a directory (er, folder, er, 'library' as Win7 now seems to call them) If you are installing systems for others, then you need to pick one distro and stick with it - it doesn't matter what that distro is, you just need to be able to stick to it and use it yourself as those people you've installed it for will call you when it gets stuck and they've broken it... I use Debian - it's what's on my servers, my workstation, my laptops and my wifes laptop. I use FVWM because I want a windwing environment and not a desktop environment, but wifey wants a desktop, so I chose xfce4. Sadly, lifes too short to learn everything, and what you're going to get is everyones personal favourites. If you want something stable, but not neccessarily bleeding edge, then use Debian and pick your window/desktop manager. Xfce is still a choice and if you want eye candy install compiz... Squeeze has only just been released, so right-now is actually fairly close to the edge anyway. Gordon
Don't think too hard about what I said - bear in-mind that I'm generally a grumpy old fart (get off my lawn, etc.) Linux is 20 years old this year. I started using it in 1994 I think. I've been using the same email system (ish) and the same desktop layout (fvwm) since then. I can't work out why I need to change. I did look at Gnome and have watched people use Kde and Suns open desktop, etc. and really can't see what advantage they give me.
However - It takes a lot of work and dedication to convert people to the penguin side (especially when you're not being paid for it) and I have to say that after totally failling to convert my father in-law I'm giving up myself. Really. Fuck-em. If people want to pay the MS tax when they know there is a viable alternative, then that's their look-out.
But still look at Debian though :) It's Ubuntu without the hassle. Gordon -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq