New distro question

[Labitt, Bruce]

Comments below:

-----Original Message-----
From: gnhlug-discuss-bounces at mail.gnhlug.org
[mailto:gnhlug-discuss-bounces at mail.gnhlug.org] On Behalf Of Ben Scott
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 1:56 PM
To: Greater NH Linux User Group
Subject: Re: New distro question

On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 1:24 PM, Labitt, Bruce
<labittb1 at tycoelectronics.com> wrote:
> I find it awkward compared to either FC6 (gnome) ...

  That's curious.  RHEL/CentOS and Fedora are typically very similar.
They use all the same tools.  I wouldn't go quite so far as to say
they're built from the same sources, but almost.  they've got a *lot*
in common.

> Somehow this copy of Centos feels older than FC6.

[Labitt, Bruce] Version 4.5, so it is "older" than FC6!

  What version of CentOS?  If you're not sure, check the contents of
the /etc/redhat-release file.  It might be as simple as upgrading to a
newer CentOS release.  According to Wikipedia, RHEL/CentOS 5 was
derived from Fedora 6.  RHEL 4 was derived from Fedora 3.

  It may also be the way your particular installation is configured.
The computer you're using might not have the packages you're used to
installed, or something along those lines.  You might play around in
"yumex" (GUI for yum) to see if there's anything missing for you.


[Labitt, Bruce] I'll try that

>  How sensitive is ubuntu to hardware?

  The same as any other distro or operating system: Completely.  :-)
Specifics tend to be, well, specific to the situation.  Only way to
know for sure is to try it out.

> What is the advantage of a debian based distro compared to rpm based?

  I dunno about "advantage".  They're a little different, but have
more in common than apart.  On one, you type "rpm" and "yum", on the
other, you use "dpkg" and "apt-*".  They put some config files in
different places, and have slightly different file formats for a few
things.

  Debian itself is known for having a very large repository of
packages in the distribution itself, and for having a release cycle
best described as "glacial".  But if you don't care about the age (or
that works in your favor), the package selection is *very* nice.

  Ubuntu is/was derived from Debian.  I think they've forked their own
source tree, but I expect they share a lot of work.  The Ubuntu
repository is not as large as Debian, but it still has a bunch of
stuff.  They have a more frequent release cycle, but still put out
"long term support" releases periodically, too.  I've been impressed
by their live CD and "ease of use" for novice users.

  But if you're having culture shock switching between Fedora and
CentOS, I except Debian or Ubuntu would be worse.

[Labitt, Bruce] Gee, I wouldn't characterize it like that!  I guess it
is because my version of Centos4.5 does predate FC6, hence it feels
older.  I have SuSE9.3 at home on two machines, yeah I know, ahem, time
to upgrade.  9.3 doesn't seem "old".


>  As for mattering about MIS support, it usually ends up being helpful.
>  It is useful to have local support, I've got to admit.

  You may want to see if you can get CentOS to work first, then.

[Labitt, Bruce] Is a Centos upgrade as ugly as a SuSE upgrade?  In other
words, save \usr, \home, install over everything? 

>  That way the list can continue to have discussions about relevant
>  and irrelevant topics with out having me bother everyone. :)

  This isn't a bother.  And it's rather more on-topic than usual.  :)

-- Ben
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