> On Thu, 29 Mar 2001, Greg Partin wrote:
>
> > Hi folks,
> > I'm just getting ready to install my first version of Linux on my PC
> that
> > i'm hoping you guys will help me pick. I'm familiar with Berkley Unix,
> I
> > have a programming background and i've done easy tasks such as
> installing
> > mySQL, drivers and API's onto RedHat. What version of Linux do you guys
> > suggest for me to start out with? What are the pros and cons of each?
> If
> > you suggest one, where can I find it? Much obliged!
> >
> > Greg
> >
> I like Slackware. It is so crude it is charming. I am a programmer by
> nature, and Slackware seems to me to be easier to work. But really, I
> just use whatever falls ready to hand. The Junk Pentium started with
> Slackware 3.0, over which I installed Slackware 3.4, large chunks from
> RedHat 5.0 then Slackware 7.0. Gradually, it is aquiring a patina of
> Mandrake 7.2 as it girds up its loins to take on kernel 2.4.2. Giftie,
> the X server and fileserver for the JP, started with Mandrake 6.1, got a
> transfusion of Slackware 7.0, and now some Mandrake 7.2. Software from
> different distributions is generally interoperable if you will have a
> little care with library dependencies, particularly [g]libc.
>
Generally the most important part of installing linux is not so much
your selection of distribution but rather your partitioning scheme.
My own opinion is that older distributions are best for older
machines since they generallty required less processor power and disk space
for a full install.
As hard drives have increased in size, so have the space
requirements for the newer fancier things.
The choice of distribution is getting bigger every month and for
curious people like me this can waste a lot of time and brain-space.
The answer to your question really is "what will you mainly be doing
with your system?"
For programmers I would agree with Lawson. Slackware
For an independent integrated development environment try Debian
For support and networking go for RedHat
If you need support for Japanese and other languages look at
TurboLinux
If ease of installation and business use is important there is
Caldera
Mandrake has a bit of everything and a full installation is HUGE
Corel is a business adaptation of Debian
SuSE is popular with radio amateurs and servers
These are personal observations and not gospel!!!
I like to partition off /home and /usr/local so that I can
experiment with different distributions without formatting over any extra
stuff I have installed.
Hope this helps.
Peter Barrett
Network Integrity
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