[GLLUG] RE: Distro of Choice?

Tue Aug 17 13:08:06 EDT 2004

FWIW, I've been working with SuSE, since that is the direction Novell is
going.  At first I was turned off with 8.0 - a few quirks here and
there, and some issues with language (native german speakers).  Also, If
you get the Novell enterprise servers through the beta or NFR programs,
be aware that you cannot get updates for the SuSE server stuff without
paying money, even if you get an NFR copy of the install media.  It's a
pain. (email me off line if you need details)

That said, I just decomissioned my RedHat 9 box and got a SuSE 9
standard up and running and I'm pretty happy. The YaST system works
pretty well, and I haven't had to go outside of the utility much.  SuSE
has lots of good packages that I need (such as Spam Assassin and
Squirrelmail) by default, has auto-magic online update, and a lot of
configuration utilities through YaST to set up the web server, firewall
rules, etc.  Its also kinda pretty looking.  It seems to run a lot
faster than my RedHat 9 box, also.  I went from a Celeron1.7ghz/512mb
RedHat 9 box to a Duron850/512mb SuSE 9 box and it seems to run faster
now, especially in the GUI (which used to choke bigtime).

So, the fact that SuSE is pretty good out of the box, plus the fact that
it has Novell support, and will run all the cool novell stuff like
n-terprise services, etc. will probably keep me on it.  Especially as
Novell starts pulling the Red Carpet services into the new ZenWorks -
this will allow you to set up your own patch staging servers, so you can
make a custom corporate build of Linux, and have your own auto-update,
management, etc.

Mark Lachniet

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:22:58 -0400
> From: "James Zaldivar" <zaldivarj at michigan.org>
> Subject: RE: [GLLUG] Distro of Choice?
> To: "Impact" <impact at absoluteinsight.net>, <linux-user at egr.msu.edu>
> Message-ID:
> 	<118D99E4F1C7824AA95AE90EA717F17B12FC24 at medc-fs15.michigan.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
> I have used:  Mandrake, Fedora Core 2, Libranet, Gentoo, and 
> a bunch of live distros.  I'm still using Libranet and 
> Fedora.  Libranet is really great - It's Debian with an easy 
> installer and some custom admin tools that are very nice.  
> You get all the benefits of using Debian and none of the 
> problems.  They're about to come out with a new version soon, 
> but Libranet costs money.  Their current version is available 
> for free download though.
> 
>  
> 
> I really like Fedora, too, but I don't need to tell you about 
> it, now do I?
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: linux-user-bounces at egr.msu.edu
> [mailto:linux-user-bounces at egr.msu.edu] On Behalf Of Impact
> Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 7:41 PM
> To: linux-user at egr.msu.edu
> Subject: [GLLUG] Distro of Choice?
> 
>  
> 
> Was wondering.  Being still quite the newb to linux (only ran 
> for 6 months or so), I have tried a good number of Distros, 
> but none have really 100% clicked.  I tried: Red Hat 9, 
> Fedora Core 2 (using currently), had problems installing 
> Debian, and tried a few versions of SuSE.
> 
>  
> 
> I was wondering what you guys use, and why...
> 
> I recently got SuSE pro (a few versions) in the mail from 
> Novell, so I plan to check those out soon...
> 
>  
> 
> -Dan sherman
> 
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> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:27:15 -0400
> From: "Derek William Engi" <engidere at msu.edu>
> Subject: [GLLUG] Re: Distro of Choice?
> To: linux-user at egr.msu.edu
> Message-ID: <E1Bx33b-000721-Oj at sys06.mail.msu.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="utf-8"
> 
> I started out in linux trying, emphasis on the trying, to 
> install slackware back in the day.  Since then I have 
> experimented with Mandrake, Debian, FreeBSD, Redhat and 
> finally Fedora Core 2.  Out of all, I would have to say I 
> like the "Redhat-ness" of Fedora, its a personal fave. 
> 
> Derek 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> > I have used:  Mandrake, Fedora Core 2, Libranet, Gentoo, 
> and a bunch 
> > of live distros.  I'm still using Libranet and Fedora.  Libranet is 
> > really great - It's Debian with an easy installer and some custom 
> > admin tools that are very nice.  You get all the benefits of using 
> > Debian and none of the problems.  They're about to come out 
> with a new 
> > version soon, but Libranet costs money.  Their current version is 
> > available for free download though.
> > 
> >   
> > 
> > I really like Fedora, too, but I don't need to tell you 
> about it, now 
> > do I?
> > 
> >   
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: linux-user-bounces at egr.msu.edu
> > [mailto:linux-user-bounces at egr.msu.edu] On Behalf Of Impact
> > Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 7:41 PM
> > To: linux-user at egr.msu.edu
> > Subject: [GLLUG] Distro of Choice? 
> > 
> >   
> > 
> > Was wondering.  Being still quite the newb to linux (only ran for 6 
> > months or so), I have tried a good number of Distros, but none have 
> > really 100% clicked.  I tried: Red Hat 9, Fedora Core 2 (using 
> > currently), had problems installing Debian, and tried a few 
> versions 
> > of SuSE.
> > 
> >   
> > 
> > I was wondering what you guys use, and why... 
> > 
> > I recently got SuSE pro (a few versions) in the mail from 
> Novell, so I 
> > plan to check those out soon...
> > 
> >   
> > 
> > -Dan sherman
> > 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 10:41:36 -0400
> From: Ashton Shortridge <ashton at msu.edu>
> Subject: Re: [GLLUG] Distro of Choice?
> To: <linux-user at egr.msu.edu>
> Message-ID: <200408171041.36367.ashton at msu.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain;  charset="utf-8"
> 
> As a bigger Newbie than most here, and one who asks far more 
> questions than he answers, perhaps my answer will be enlightening.
> 
> I have RedHat 9 (really Pink Tie, but the same thing) on my 
> desktop at work. 
> Easy to install, obviously kind of dated and not the easiest 
> thing to upgrade. I do have KDE 3.2 running on it, but not 
> after a battle. I think I have it running at home on my 
> wife's machine, too. I run a lot of non-distro stuff, and am 
> generally as happy or happier compiling than using rpms. 
> Since the machine at home is on dialup I will probably get 
> some CDs and install something new there before Christmas.
> 
> On the advice of this very group, I obtained Libranet (about 
> 2 weeks before
> 2.8.1 became free!), and have been very impressed. I 
> installed it on my balky notebook, and it worked pretty well. 
> The big problem had to do with the display configuration - 
> it's still not quite right, and occasionally X crashes, 
> bringing down the system. I think on a desktop machine things 
> would have been cake. Libranet's installation was 
> straightforward and the Adminmenu tool is very convenient for 
> upgrading and configuring the system - miles ahead of RH9. 
> Libranet is basically a flavor of Debian, so the apt- 
> approach to upgrading works smoothly too. My beef with it is 
> really just the slow pace at which Debian upgrades... and the 
> horror stories on the forums about people that lost patience 
> with that slow pace, installed the wrong things from 
> unstable, and consequently wrecked their systems. Libranet 
> maintains a 'safe upgrade' that borrows as much as possible 
> from Debian's testing and unstable to provide a safe and 
> somewhat more up to date system.
> 
> I did have Gentoo on the laptop, but I broke it beyond my 
> poor powers to mend, hence the move to Libranet.
> 
> Ashton
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
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