Clayton,
I appreciate you putting forth the time and work to answer this message. For
the benefit of any other reader, I'm going to leave in tacked all of the
following replay. There's very good information! For the reader - don't pass
it up, although, to read the correspondence that set spark to this replay,
you'll have to get it on your own.
Clayton Weaver wrote:
> Start with getting 2.0.36. If it has any showstoppers given your specific
> hardware, go back to 2.0.35. kernel 2.0.30 was a nest of bugs. It made
> so many major changes at one time over 2.0.29 that it was sheer havoc
> for many people.
>
> How are you going to know whether the problem is missing documentation
> (i.e. configuration that isn't quite right) if you are using a severely
> buggy kernel? (2.0.29 was way more stable, but missing a lot of
> networking features introduced in 2.0.30).
>
> If you ask a question based on results from a buggy kernel, people aren't
> sure how to reply, they aren't sure if the result is bug, not implemented
> yet, or just mis-configuration.
>
This is the ONLY good advice I've received since I started working with the
Linux OS system. Believe it or not, I've placed dozens of messages on
newsgroups and this very mailing list server only to end up in an infinitely
unsolvable loop. I have an extensive programming background in several
languages in the networking field. I'm very familiar with other OSs (NT,
Apple/Mac, Microsoft, OS/2, Dr DOS, ...). I took the university degree course
in computer science (some additional courses in UNIX, and equally similar
courses). Not once did anyone tell me that I was making a mistake with Linux
2.0.30. And, I emphasize... 2.0.30... not Linux!
>
> Solution 2: scan archives of the newsgroup on a searchable mailing list
> archive, and the archives of comp.os.linux.networking (via
> http://www.dejanews.com/ for example, which allows keyword search).
>
> The Linux Network Administrator's Guide V.2 (book) is very good, but of
> course there have been features added since it was published and some
> programs used configuration syntaxes that postdate it. But that's the
> first thing to try for a problem.
>
I am in complete agreement that there are some very good postings and web
pages of advice. I have used many resources on the Internet and many books
(too many to mention and some three and four inches thick) to research out
information directly related to Linux. Yes, The Network Administrators' Guide
was among the many few that I read.
>
> But, gee, thousands, perhaps millions of users have the same problems you
> do, and thus must have asked the same questions. The trick is just to find
> the answers, using the usual search tools. If you want answers all in one
> place, you need to use a distribution that offers tech support, where you
> can ask someone if the documentation isn't clear. Examples: RedHat (I
> haven't actually tried this, but they have a "commercial option"),
> Workgroup Solutions, S.u.S.E., Yggdrasil, Caldera. These are all
> commercial enterprises with extra support options. I'm not sure what
> Debian does, I think support is all online (mailing lists, etc).
Red Hat 4.2 is exactly where this Linux 2.0.30 installment came. For advice,
starting there was more difficult than asking others familiar with Linux. If,
"thousands, perhaps millions of users have the same problems," then isn't that
enough evidence to show that something was and is lacking?
>
> If you want free or near-free, then you need to chase down the details
> wherever they exist. Sometimes that's easy, sometimes not, depending
> on what it is exactly that you need Linux to do.
Anything costly or free was purchased or pursued in its entirety as much as
time allotted up to this point. Free is hardly what I have needed to do in
order to pursue this Linux challenge. If free was the direct result of
obtaining all of this software, documentation, and heartache, THEN I would be
guilty of an erroneous assumption and posting.
>
> Regards, Clayton Weaver <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (Seattle)
Even with all that has happened, I'm seriously considering the option of
purchasing Red Hat 5.2. I still standby my word and consider Linux the best OS
with Apple/Mac following closely behind #1. With ALL sarcasm aside, would
anyone care to give me some steering in the right direction on my next among
many purchases?
*************************************************************************
Signed,
Concerned
P.'S. Detailed Documentation(s) and Sample(s) are more than welcome!
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-net" in
the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
