[lug] FC9 DVD's?

[Collins Richey]

On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 7:15 PM, Geoffrey David Anderson
<Geoffrey.Anderson at colorado.edu> wrote:
> Anyone in Boulder got FC9 DVDs I could borrow or buy?
>
> And I'm happy to hear any strong council to go with another distro.
>

I'm not in Boulder and don't have FC9 DVDs, but ...

If you're interested in bleeding edge software like FC9, I can
recommend Sidux (www.sidux.com). I've been running sidux since October
07, and it meets my needs. Here are the benefits/drawbacks:

1. Very quick install from a LiveCD/DVD (your choice)
2. It's Debian Sid (the unstable variant), and it's KDE based (if
you're a Gnome lover, you may not be impressed). Sid is no where near
pushing KDE4 yet, so it's quite stable..
3. It's a rolling release - install once, update forever. Each release
is really only a snapshot of the current state that existing users
have already reached via updates.
4. There's a very friendly and helpful Forum, and even the developers
participate fully. Also an active IRC channel.
5. The developers (long term Debian heavyweights) and an active
testing group insulate you from the bleeding edge stuff in sid. I've
not encountered any real problems in all these months, other than a
startup problems (forgot to read the warning - don't update for a few
days. got stuck without X until the next day when the workaround was
posted on the Forum).
6. You need to update more frequently (at least every 2 months, I do
it weekly), and there are lots of packages to be updated.
7. All updates are performed via apt-get update apt-get dist-upgrade
in a NON-X environment. Gui updates and the simpler apt-get upgrade
are not permitted.  The standard way of updating is via a
sidux-specific script 'smxi' that walks you through the options in the
correct sequence and automatically holds back any troublesome
(incomplete, broken, etc.) packages.
8. Sidux has built-in standard methods of upgrading lots of
proprietary stuff (nVidia, ATI, etc.).
9. Sidux has good wireless support.
10. Sidux starts up quickly, and it has the quickest shutdown time of
any distro I've ever tried.
11. If you know German, there's a very strong German Forum. The distro
is based in Berlin.
12. There's an active group developing edu-sidux for use in schools,
and there are even a few stalwarts running Gnome and other desktops
(www.sidux-underground.com).
13. One quirk I've not encountered elsewhere. There is some cooky
German law that precludes the discussion of packages like mplayer that
provide full DVD support on the Forum. Any such references are
automatically converted to **MULTIMEDIA** and quickly squelched. No
problem discussing mplayer on the IRC channel. Weird, but typically
German.
14. Like almost any modern LiveCD, Sidux can shrink an NTFS partition
to provide space for Linux on a dual-boot Win/Linux machine.

I've run it both on the desktop and on my laptop with equal success.

These words don't constitute "strong counsel", just my $.02. You try
it, you like it, or you drop it.

Enjoy.

-- 
Collins Richey
 If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries
 of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.