[Techtalk] Which Distro? (was Re: "I need to use Windows because ...")

[Kathryn Andersen]

On Sun, Aug 11, 2002 at 02:16:01PM -0400, caitlynmaire at earthlink.net wrote:
> Hi, Kathy,
(Kathryn looks around wildly, wondering why Caitlyn is addressing
someone who is not me)
 
> I also use Vector Linux 2.5 (a Slackware derivative distro) on one box,
> and hae used Slack in the past.  I only recommend Slack to experienced
> Linux users.
> > 
> > So why did you change to Slackware?  What features does it have that
> > make you like it? 
> 
> Errr... I only like the fact that it is very, very configurable and easy
> to use in an environment where you need a lightweight OS.  Vector is
> already built to be lightweight, and has some of it's own install tools,
> so it's a better Slack than Slack for me in that respect.  Otherwise, I
> *don't* like Slack that well.

What exactly do you mean by lightweight?
 
> > - ease of administration
> 
> Lacks a lot of the nice GUI tools that RH or Mandrake ship with.  If
> your're comfortable living at the command line then any Linux is easy to
> admin.

I'm a mix.  I must admit I find GUIs often make initial admin easier,
then I can go in and tweak the config files if I want.
 
> > - range of packages
> 
> Very good.  SuSe and Mandrake are the kitchen sink distros.  They come
> with more junk than anyone else's distros.

I dunno, I'd think that Debian has even more packages than them... the
only distro I know of which lets you choose between *four* different
printer systems (lpr, gnulpr, lprng and cups).

> Also, Slackware "packages"
> are just gzipped tarballs of binary files.  There is nothing like rpm to
> dpackage for Slack.  That, to me, is a huge drawback.

What, so basically it just installs things, plonk, in the filesystem,
without any dependency checking at all?  Is there any way of
uninstalling things?

Kathryn Andersen
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