I think that is one of those questions you have to answer for yourself. "Best"
has a lot to do with how it will be used. I have an old 486 box running
printers on an ethernet. What was "Best" for it? Any one of the Linux
distributions that included SMB (server message block) and fit on one or two
floppies. Since all it does is receive and spool print jobs for a 24 ppm laser
printer, I needed nothing more, and the BIOS didn't support CDs, so something
simple was fine for that. In another case, I had a user who was used to MACs
and I installed LM for him since it was the "best" in terms of being a familiar
environment to allow him a gradual transition to a new platform.
Network cards are a bugaboo of installs. Cheap ones are big culprits, and also
some of those with the infamous Winbond chips. An install with a SCSI adapter
in it and also a Winbond-based network card can proceed smoothly until the
reboot where it will lock up for no apparent reason, because the winbond chip
is a black hole for SCSI probes.
What you have is appropriate for you at this point and will allow you to learn
the system, which is the most important thing in getting benefit from it. Once
you have learned it, you may find much "better" distributions which hold NO
attraction for you now. For my all-Linux office project, I am using LM 5.3
(Festen) because I am satisfied that it is stable across many varied platforms
and it is a natural transition for the users here. I would not use Venus,
because there are a few too many issues unresolved at this point which affect
the stability of the system, and I have too many different types of hardware to
install it on. For a masquerading server attaching a LAN to the internet
through a single dial-up, I am using RH (kernel 2.0.29, patched for teardrop
and friends) and the Infomagic WorkGroup Server, because I have no time to
teach the client how to write ipfwadm rules. In each case, I tried to select
the "best" Linux for the job in terms of less work for me.
Civileme
Lorenzo Jimenez wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> Is there outhere a site in which we can all see what is the best Linux
> distribution? Which has the best
> install and apps?
>
> Also I give up to install Mandrake after trying to install my ethernet card,
> it just don't work. I turned to
> Slackware. The interesting thing abount Slackware is Zipslackware. I
> download ZSW and install it
> to a directory in my harddisk and make and config multiboot (just like
> M4Win) but the great thing
> is I don't need to partition anything, just boot and begin to work. The
> tradeoff is that I have to install
> seperately the apps and tools i need.
>
> What do you think?
> Do you have work with Slackware Linux? Is Zipslackware is inferior to a
> complete install of Linux?
> Maybe DOS partition is a trade off?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Lorenzo Jimenez ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] )
> SP-CSUCA ( www.csuca.ac.cr )
