Distribution of the Year

ratpoison · 01-09-2005, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dick_onion53
After tring alot of distos (i have a six inch stack of cds), i still havnt found one that suits me. I'm gonna try Debian, and then I might try slack. If those don't suit me I'm giving up.

===========================
Which distros have you tried, and why have they NOT met your expectations?????????

vharishankar · 01-09-2005, 08:06 PM

I think Debian is really the King of Linux distros, probably followed by Slackware -- I've never used it but it also seems to be popular.

I would probably never use Gentoo in my life. It is a source-only distro from what I understand and if I had to compile all the packages (my god! I have experience of installing from source and even one big package seems too many!) then I might as well give up using the computer...

kierl · 01-09-2005, 08:52 PM

Oooh! Gentoo, totally, and without a doubt.

No other distro has brought the same level of innovation as the Gentoo project. Portage is just so frikkin' AWESOME. I've never seen anything like it. Think APT on steroids... and with a MUCH bigger package selection.

Nothing I've ever used really even compares. With Gentoo, you install it and it works. If packages are going to conflict, then portage makes you choose between the two... If you want an older version, it's there. If you want the bleeding edge, it's there.

With Red Hat/Fedora/Yoper/Xandros/(The list goes on and on...) I was always fighting with my programs. With Gentoo I can finally use them and get some work done.

Almost any program, driver, or update is a simple 'emerge' command away. And(with the exception of some masked(experimental) packages) they all work when I install them, as opposed to working after I've spent 3 days tweaking an re-compiling them.

vectordrake · 01-09-2005, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Harishankar
...(my god! I have experience of installing from source and even one big package seems too many!) then I might as well give up using the computer...

That's the problem with compiling from source with most distributions. The tools aren't there to do it and you'd have a better time catching a rattlesnake with your bare hands. Gentoo does all the work for you, the same way that apt-get does for binaries. It just takes longer.

Gentoo's drawbacks: shitty installer (you, links2, and nano) and occasional long compiles

edited because my spacebar's broken and I didn't catch it before posting

vharishankar · 01-09-2005, 10:03 PM

Vectordrake: very interesting. Thanks. Also how would you compare the relative ease of use/difficulty levels of using

Gentoo vs. Slackware vs. Debian?

dalek · 01-09-2005, 10:18 PM

Gentoo is good for faster machines and machines that have plenty of memory for compiling the programs. It seems to run faster, if the flags are set correctly, since the programs are compiled to run for the machine you have them on.

I have not used anything but Mandrake before and Gentoo is certainly faster than Mandrake or binaries. The downsides to Gentoo, the install and being careful when you update the config files with etc-update. You can really screw up something if you are not carefull. The plus side, you sync, type in what you want to install and then go take a nap or go to work/school. Most are generally ready to run when you get back.

Make sure your CPU has a good heatsink too. If it is wimpy, you will need a new CPU pretty quick, may not make it through the install.

They will have to close out Gentoo to make me switch. Love my Gentoo.

Later

vharishankar · 01-09-2005, 10:20 PM

I'm sorry then. Gentoo may probably not take off in tropical places like India

With the temperature levels here, CPUs tend to overheat a lot. I doubt whether they can stand the compiling for long hours continuously.

dalek · 01-09-2005, 10:28 PM

If you use it for a server, the compiles are pretty short, generally anyway. It is very stable too. Parden me for showing off a bit:

Code:

root@smoker / # uptime
 22:27:15 up 60 days, 16:03,  5 users,  load average: 0.08, 0.12, 0.38
root@smoker / #

I like it, a lot.

Later

vectordrake · 01-09-2005, 10:30 PM

Can I wait until Sarge is out? LOL.
IMHO, Slack is fast, but not as much fun until you install Swaret. Why do I say that? Because the first success I had with Linux was with a fresh install if Debian Potato, right at the cusp of Woody's debut. I "apt-get update, apt-get upgrade, apt-get dist-upgrade"d to Woody with only 1 hitch - it messed my XF86Config-4 file. No biggie. That's a feat. gentoo wins me over, though. Its got the new packages like Mandrake does, without the massive dependancy downloads and occasional total functionality loss. I like the new stuff, what can I say! I run 2.6.10-nitro, reiser4, KDE3.3, GCC3.4 - all the new stuff, and it doesn't break. emerge is a nice tool. It reminds me of apt-get, which I will always be fond of.

If you're nuts like me, then you'll be happier with Gentoo (~) than "Sid" or "Current" because you'll have more uptime. At least that's my mileage. I usually try all the new stuff and I stick with Gentoo.

Slackware: results in a fast system - needs package manager
Debian: truly free - lets you sleep at night
Gentoo: Source packages work because compiler tools are installed out of the box

But, what the hey! If you can getyour network card to work and you can get root access to your machine, the distro shouldn't matter. It might take a bit of work, but all distros can result in a great install. Some might require more hacking than others, but its possible.

vectordrake · 01-09-2005, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dalek
If you use it for a server, the compiles are pretty short, generally anyway...

heck, even if you use it for a workstation with all kinds of GUI apps, its still not really THAT bad. When KDE or Sun Java get updated, then yes, look to several hours at a time. I run "testing" and I don't have very long compiles, even on my Duron 800. Gentoo is a viable option. But, the install process is a bit overwhelming for a newbie. Read carefully

I forgot another really good Gentoo trait: prelink

Prelink is easily installed and implemented without any fancy manipulations. It really speeds up your every day usage.

edited for those who have smilies enabled. You know who you are!

dick_onion53 · 01-10-2005, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ltd602
What was wrong with PClinuxOS?

Gentoo?? Hehe, You're in for quite a ride. If you know what you're doing, it'll be an experience to remember, and a rewarding one at that.

Weird. You seem to be having little satisfaction with any distro. So far, all my attempts to install linux distros have been fine. Mandrake 10.0 was really easy. PClinuxOS was even easier (still using it and love it), Damn Small Linux was fairly easy, and SuSE was fine too.

Forgive me if I've forgotten, but what kind of hardware are you running?

I've got an AMD AthlonXP 3000+ rig, with a Radeon 8500 128mb videocard, a gig of RAM, VIA mobo, etc. Never had any hardware detection problems with any linux distro so far. Even recognized my USB webcam.

I hope you find your Linux "baby." Again, if you can get the hang of installing Gentoo, well . . . you'll probably stay in Gentoo land forever. :-)

I think the reason for the hardware detection is the fact I just bought a new mobo a few months ago. Most of the time the problem is that lan and sometimes video only goes to 1024x768 (on my nVidia Geforce FX 5200). Oh and 99% my pinnacle pctv tunner doesnt work.

detailed specs:
Athlon XP 1800+
Chaintech SKT600 mobo
nVidia Geforce FX 5200 128mb
Pinnacle PCTV tuner card
Lucent Win modem (i have another one but windows detects this one right away)
Maxtor 80gb hdd (ide)
I think that all the major hardware.

Now, remember that I'm looking for a good reason to cut 7 gigs off my ntfs partition. I'm not gonna do that just to have a funky o/s with no sound or lan.

synaptical · 01-10-2005, 03:48 PM

arch linux:

the speed of gentoo
the simplicity of slack
the update ease of debian

ngan_yine · 01-10-2005, 03:53 PM

Nothing beat Slackware!

Sure it is a little diffcult to use at first but like I said nothing beat Slackware.

vectordrake · 01-10-2005, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dick_onion53
I think the reason for the hardware detection is the fact I just bought a new mobo a few months ago. Most of the time the problem is that lan and sometimes video only goes to 1024x768 (on my nVidia Geforce FX 5200). Oh and 99% my pinnacle pctv tunner doesnt work.

detailed specs:
Athlon XP 1800+
Chaintech SKT600 mobo
nVidia Geforce FX 5200 128mb
Pinnacle PCTV tuner card
Lucent Win modem (i have another one but windows detects this one right away)
Maxtor 80gb hdd (ide)
I think that all the major hardware.

Now, remember that I'm looking for a good reason to cut 7 gigs off my ntfs partition. I'm not gonna do that just to have a funky o/s with no sound or lan.

Two solutions guaranteed to work:
1) Install whatever you want and then install the drivers for your LAN adaptor and video from the NVidia site, paying attention to their directions exactly.
2)Purchasing a distribution with the NVidia drivers already included - not many of the distros out there will include the NVidia drivers, as they're closed source - purchasing gets around this, I guess.

There is a third that goes with 1) and 2). That is come back to LQ and create a thread when you have problems. You will get help.

dick_onion53 · 01-10-2005, 05:19 PM

Thanks, but I have tried to install my lan drivers. Unfortunatly they are only compatible with kernal 2.4 and down. But 2.6 seems to be the new thing. And I have successfully installed the official nVidia drivers but it never seems to change the max resolution.

Thanks for your help,
Dick