Which distro?

hescominsoon · 01-29-2004, 04:53 PM

I have a machine p-2 350 128 megs ram 3c905b Nic machine i am using as a file server..I want it to also be usable as a nessus/mysql server/webmin/samba server. this is for internal use only. Suse was a pain(ftp installs suck and YaSt did not live up to its billing at all)..redhat 9 and fedora are bloated and are determined to hide the option to not have hte system go straight to the graphical login..i want the system to come to the command line and stop)and mandrake for some stupid reason either has poor(no faster than 10 megabits/sec on a 100 meg network) or i am unable to update webmin without webmin getting corrupted.

so redhat/fedora, Suse, and mandrake are out..any other suggestions?

jailbait · 01-29-2004, 05:13 PM

"i want the system to come to the command line and stop"

You can do this in any distribution by the simple change of changing the default run level in /etc/inittab. The run level for command line is 3 in Mandrake, Red Hat, and SuSE. For these three distributions edit /etc/initab and change:

id:5:initdefault:

to

id:3:initdefault:

".any other suggestions?"

The things that you are asking for are mutually exclusive. If you choose a distribution that is easy to install then it will be bloated and slow to some extent as first installed and the easier they are to install then the harder theyare to customize. If you choose a distribution, such as Slackware, which can be built mean and lean to your exact specifications then you will spend a lot of work doing the specification and initially you will not know enough to be able to set up Slackware well anyway.

If you are willing to pay for a distribution then I recommend that you buy SuSE as your first distribution. If you want a free distribution then I recommend Fedora. Six months from now when you have a good handle on Linux details then I recommend that you install Slackware and tailor it to exactly what you want.

___________________________________
Be prepared. Create a LifeBoat CD.
http://users.rcn.com/srstites/LifeBo...home.page.html

Steve Stites

hescominsoon · 01-29-2004, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jailbait
"i want the system to come to the command line and stop"

You can do this in any distribution by the simple change of changing the default run level in /etc/inittab. The run level for command line is 3 in Mandrake, Red Hat, and SuSE. For these three distributions edit /etc/initab and change:

id:5:initdefault:

to

id:3:initdefault:

".any other suggestions?"

The things that you are asking for are mutually exclusive. If you choose a distribution that is easy to install then it will be bloated and slow to some extent as first installed and the easier they are to install then the harder theyare to customize. If you choose a distribution, such as Slackware, which can be built mean and lean to your exact specifications then you will spend a lot of work doing the specification and initially you will not know enough to be able to set up Slackware well anyway.

If you are willing to pay for a distribution then I recommend that you buy SuSE as your first distribution. If you want a free distribution then I recommend Fedora. Six months from now when you have a good hanndle on Linux details then I recommend that you install Slackware and tailor it to exactly what you want.

___________________________________
Be prepared. Create a LifeBoat CD.
http://users.rcn.com/srstites/LifeBo...home.page.html

Steve Stites

I should have explained i am a 18 year pc tech who is breaking out of windows..i am totally self taught so work is not an issue..Suse did not impress me..and redhat/fedora are slower than suse....Mandrake's issue is poor network performance and/or update corruption issues. Mandrake is one i have used in the past in this role but the webmin corruption problem is a real issue..basically i do not want ot have to even install the graphical environment..but if i cannot get webmin to update without hosing itself..kinda hard not to..

Any tips on that one? Might try slack for giggle..and jsut futz with mandrake..hrmm any such thing as a dual distro boot..say slack and mandrake??

acid_kewpie · 01-29-2004, 05:21 PM

you can put a countably infinite number of distros on a single machine... go nuts. and please read the reviewsw section here for many user opions on their favourite distros etc...