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

caitlynmaire at earthlink.net caitlynmaire at earthlink.net
Sun Aug 11 14:16:01 EST 2002


Hi, Kathy,

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.

 How does it rate on
> - stability

Excellent

> - ease of installation

Not easy.

> - ease of upgrades

Not as easy as the big distros.

> - 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.

> - security

Keep it updated and patched like any other distro and it's excellent.

> - range of packages

Very good.  SuSe and Mandrake are the kitchen sink distros.  They come
with more junk than anyone else's distros.  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.

Everybody seems to make Red Hat rpms because they are so dominant in the
corporate US market.  It's easier to find packages for RH than any other
distro.  Many Mandrake and SuSe packages will also work with RH for
smaller apps that don't have huge numbers of dependencies.
 
All the best,
Caity



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