Re: Hello, New to this listing.
> > I would prefer the term "different" to "better". :) Me too. "better" is always relative to the user, not the entire userbase. Different strokes for different folks and all that :) -- Debian - http://www.debian.org/ Linux 1394 - http://www.linux1394.org/ Subversion - http://subversion.tigris.org/ Deqo - http://www.deqo.com/
Re: Hello, New to this listing.
On Thu, 2003-05-29 at 17:36, Rhonda R. Wilson wrote: > My son and I have decided to learn the Linux OS so that we can get off > Microsoft OS and have a mutual project between us. We have a Sun Ultra5 w/ > Sparc processor and at the moment it has Solaris 8 installed, but I plan on > putting Debian Linux as the only OS. Our knowledge of Unix is minimal, > Linux is non existant, and this is our first experience with any Sun > equipment. Sadly to say, I would choose another distribution than Debian to get started with. The Debian installer program and documentation presume a lot of prior Unix knowledge, and some knowledge of the specific hardware (such as disk partitioning esoterica). Another writer's recommendation about Aurora could be a good one. I learned Linux using RedHat (from which Aurora is derived) on x86 platforms, and the RedHat installer is a _lot_ easier to start with than Debian Woody's. After a few months with Aurora (or perhaps SUSE) getting familiar with the Linux/Unix world, then an upgrade to Debian could be worthwhile. It opens up a choice of thousands of packages, aggressive security updating, a large user community, and a choice of "stable", "testing" or "unstable" when choosing what versions of packages to install. Keeping debian up to date with security patches and other improvements is remarkably straightforward. Because Debian supports lots of platforms very consistently, stuff that you learn on your Ultra5 could help someone with a PowerMac, or vice versa. Ultra 5 is not a bad platform for Linux. Memory is about twice as expensive as on PC and PowerMac platforms, but the onboard ethernet and video work very well (I have a U10) and IDE drives are cheap and fast. -- enjoy the challenge of eliminating M$, SP
Re: Hello, New to this listing.
On Fri, 2003-05-30 at 02:48, Hugh Saunders wrote: > > On the other hand, i have been using debian for a few years on i386 and > it was a bit of a stuggle to get it onto my IPC [sun4c] IMHO linux is not the best choice for sun4c hardware, I think that even Solaris 7 runs faster, not to mention that sparc32 kernel support is almost dead. This is of course completely subjective as I've no time to run intensive benchmarks, so YMMV. However for sun4u hardware -and since the hme driver is fixed- it definitively rocks. -- Irvin Probst There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.
Re: Hello, New to this listing.
On Thu, May 29, 2003 at 03:04:57PM -0700, nate wrote: > Rhonda R. Wilson said: > > > Is this the right spot? > > im sure people here will be more then happy to help but if your > household has zero unix/linux experience it may be better to start > with a "easier to install/use" distribution first before going to > debian(which is easier to manage in the long run usually). > > the only other linux distro I have tried on sparc was SuSE 7.3, and > it installed pretty flawlessly on an ultra 1 creator 3D. > > though I went back to debian pretty quick :) first distro i used was caldera.. [bad memories] Second suse that lasted a bit longer, till i discoverd the way :) I did a suse install for a friend recently and it still sucks.[IMHO] Far too pretty and i couldnt find icewm. On the other hand, i have been using debian for a few years on i386 and it was a bit of a stuggle to get it onto my IPC [sun4c] but this was due to mu inability to confiure a boot server rather than anything wrong with the actual sparc [well apart from a file locking issue with the nfs root] Anyway i say go for debian! you can do it! post probs, but rtm and google first =o) -- hugh
Re: Hello, New to this listing.
On Thu, 2003-05-29 at 18:28, Thomas A. Cort wrote: > > household has zero unix/linux experience it may be better to start > > with a "easier to install/use" distribution first before going to > > debian(which is easier to manage in the long run usually). > For a really easy to use Linux distribution for the Sparc32 and Sparc64 > platforms you may want to try Aurora Linux (http://auroralinux.org). It's > based on RedHat Linux and has a graphical installer and user interface. > After you get used to linux and Sparc hardware and want something better > you can try debian. I would prefer the term "different" to "better". :) ~spot --- Tom "spot" Callaway SAIR LCA, RHCE Red Hat Enterprise Architect :: http://www.redhat.com Project Leader for Aurora Sparc Linux :: http://auroralinux.org GPG: D786 8B22 D9DB 1F8B 4AB7 448E 3C5E 99AD 9305 4260 The words and opinions reflected in this message do not necessarily reflect those of my employer, Red Hat, and belong solely to me. "Immature poets borrow, mature poets steal." --- T. S. Eliot
Re: Hello, New to this listing.
> household has zero unix/linux experience it may be better to start > with a "easier to install/use" distribution first before going to > debian(which is easier to manage in the long run usually). For a really easy to use Linux distribution for the Sparc32 and Sparc64 platforms you may want to try Aurora Linux (http://auroralinux.org). It's based on RedHat Linux and has a graphical installer and user interface. After you get used to linux and Sparc hardware and want something better you can try debian. -- .~.,--, | Thomas Cort <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> /V\ --/ All Your Base Are \ | 192D rue Queen, Lennoxville, QC J1M 1J9 // \\ \ Belong to Us!!! / | Home Phone: +1 (819) 829 - 9750 /( )\ `--` | Running Linux on x86 MIPS PPC Sparc Sparc64 ^`~`^
Re: Hello, New to this listing.
Rhonda R. Wilson said: > Is this the right spot? im sure people here will be more then happy to help but if your household has zero unix/linux experience it may be better to start with a "easier to install/use" distribution first before going to debian(which is easier to manage in the long run usually). the only other linux distro I have tried on sparc was SuSE 7.3, and it installed pretty flawlessly on an ultra 1 creator 3D. though I went back to debian pretty quick :) ISO images are available here: ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/ftp.suse.com/sparc64/7.3/iso unfortunately it seem's suse's user support lists are much less helpful then debian's at least in my experience, really low answer:question ratio(I think that's right ?). fortunately for basic tasks, provided the system installs suse should just "work". more advanced stuff..maybe more troublesome, and sparc is not an officially supported distro of suse (I *think*). if you wanna stick to debian, I'll help where I can and I'm sure others will too but as you noticed it's really more suited to advanced users or users that are ready & willing to get their hands dirty with linux for the most part, speaking as a debian user since 1998, and a linux user since 1996. good luck in whichever you choose. nate
Re: Hello, New to this listing.
On Thu, May 29, 2003 at 05:36:24PM -0400, Rhonda R. Wilson wrote: > Hello all, > > I am new to this listing and wanted to make sure that I am in the right > place. > > My son and I have decided to learn the Linux OS so that we can get off > Microsoft OS and have a mutual project between us. We have a Sun Ultra5 w/ > Sparc processor and at the moment it has Solaris 8 installed, but I plan on > putting Debian Linux as the only OS. Our knowledge of Unix is minimal, > Linux is non existant, and this is our first experience with any Sun > equipment. > > After reading the postings for several weeks now it appears that most in the > list may be quite a bit more advanced than we are and we just wanted to make > sure that our postings were appropriate for the group. > > Is this the right spot? The reason there are experienced users here is so that we can answer questions for nice folks like you who don't know :) As long as you read the docs, you should be ok. If the docs don't answer your question, maybe google can. The list is certainly a good place if you can't find the answer yourself. -- Debian - http://www.debian.org/ Linux 1394 - http://www.linux1394.org/ Subversion - http://subversion.tigris.org/ Deqo - http://www.deqo.com/
