[lug] Debian is better?

[Timothy C. Klein]

* jdavis (lug at taproot.bz) wrote:
> Hello,
>   While at BestBuy this weekend I spoke to there Linux install
> tech. He informed me that I am almost a looser for using
> RedHat and not Debian, he then proceded to hit me about the

You should have smacked him back!  But seriously, the great thing about
Linux is that you get to choose.  If you like distro X, use it.  Who cares
what anybody else thinks!

> face with a CDRW. Just kidding about the CDRW. So I installed
> Debian on a extra hardrive. After a weekend of Debian use I
> wonder if I am missing something. I did not find apt-get easier
> to use than rpm, givien this is 2 years of rpm exp vs. 1 weekend
> apt-get exp...but I am a much more Linux informed user than I was
> 2 years ago...even 6 months ago. I could not get the video drivers
> from Nvidia to compile either, error was...the compiler you are
> trying to use is not the same one that compiled your kernel?? 

Hmm, that one is strange.  Did you use the package that is supplied in
Debian for the NVidia drivers?  It really makes things fairly easy.
Well, easy if you know how to use kpkg or build a Debian package, that
is.

> Anyway, I like the idea of using new distros and would like
> to continue to explore Debian as a replacment desktop distro..
> (due largley to dislike of rh8) Is Debain a good option for
> a Desktop distro? I ask this because Ximian Gnome wont work for

Debian is fine for a desktop, but it does seem to have a bit of a
learning curve for some folks.

> Debian3.0 (3.0 is the stable right?) and xine bitched when i used
> apt-get...mplayer cried, Evolution worked :) So i just want to know

Older version of software are going to be common in Debian Stable.
Debian won't allow a new package, or a significant upgrade to an
existing package, into Stable.  Only serious bugfixes are allowed into
Stable.  Thus, Stable tends to be behind.  For some, this is a very good
thing, for others, a constant source of irritation.  You can update to
testing or unstable, but there may be problems in those two
distributions.  (Although to be fair to Debian, I ran Unstable about a
week after I switched to Debian, and found the stability/trouble level
to be about that of RedHat, which I had been using.)  All it would take
is changing all occurrence of stable to testing or unstable in your
/etc/apt/sources.list file.  And then an apt-get update && apt-get
upgrade.

> if I am wasting my time or...I just need to learn more (with in reason)
> about Debian and non-Redhat Linux. I also once heard refrence on this
> list to stale and broken being the main Debain relases..is this cause 
> for concern when picking a desktop distro. The tech at Best-Buy also
> said that Debian is more powerfull than Redhat...I dont really know
> what he means by that. I actually think its the dumbest thing I have

If you are a Debian package developer, then yes, there are some very
powerful features available to you that I don't believe have analogues
in RedHat. If you are using it as a desktop or a server, I think that
statement would be just plain silly.  It is based on all the same tools,
with the exception of the package management stuff.

> heared in a while. Really, what makes a Linux distro more powerfull than
> another? I would say support contracts and software that *works*...
> as well as the ability to customise. I think Redhat comes *closer* than
> most to to gettting a 10/10 on all. Back to the subject...I would
> like to hear peoples desktop distro choice and why, and exp you have
> had with other distros to make $X your default.

Debian is really nice for me, but some hate it.  If you want you use it,
you will have to spend a little bit of time getting used to it.  It is
not RedHat.

> Hope someone actually reads this far :)

A paragraph break would have been nice ;-)
--
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==  Timothy Klein || teece at silverklein.net  ==
==  http://i148.denver.dsl.forethought.net  ==
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