[oclug]Linux too hard?

[Olaf Baumann]

On Mon, 2002-11-25 at 16:55, GR Gaudreau wrote:
<snip>
> 
> [gr]   I agree, Rod. Both GNOME and KDE are bloatware. It's the reason
A while back, I tried the Sourcer (source based) linux distro.  I was
amazed by two things regarding compiling.  1) how quickly XFree86
compiled and 2) how long it took to compile the first Gnome app.

I used to be under the impression that XFree86 was an incredibly large
and complex application.  It compiled in a fraction of the time that it
took for the Gnome app.  Just curious does anybody with Gentoo notice
the relative time it takes to compile XFree86 compared to their first
KDE app?

> I use a smaller window manager. If I leave KDE or GNOME running for a
> couple of days, I have to shut them down because they tend to freeze
> on me after a while. I'm a fan if Ice. It's pretty stable and I don't
> have the problems with it that I did with GNOME and KDE. It runs
> nicely for weeks on end.
I feel I must voice my happy experience with my system(s).  I've been
running debian-stable on my laptop for a couple years with all the Gnome
eye-candy included.  It has been wonderfully dependable.  Rarely do I
have applications crash, not more than a couple lockups that I can
remember.  It's not because I baby the system either...I'm always
suspending it, running many large apps simultaneously (evolution,
nautilus, sawfish, eclipse, ...).  Upgrades are as easy as `apt-get
update && apt-get upgrade` whenever I get an applicable email from the
debian security mailing list.

I've got a few other systems that are running linux and are quite
successfully fulfilling their requirements.  The nice thing about all
the choices of distros is you can choose one that matches your needs. 
Here are my recommendations for different priorities:

- debian: if you want a system that will give you the least amount of
grief in the long term (security, stability, and package management)

- gentoo: if you want the absolute max performance without augmenting
your PC with cryogenic technology

- Mandrake: for those who just gotta have every last multimedia gizmo
working out of the box (Mandrake/Transgaming distro for the gamer)

- Suse: great for getting excellent XFree86 support

- slackware: intended for the hardcore, at least those that aren't
hardcore enough for Linux From Scratch ;-)

- corel linux: nobody, I guess, except suckers like me that effectively
shelled out $100 for Civilization CTP 

- Lindows or peer: might be good for some of the other 85year old
grandmothers or My-First-Linux (tm)

- OEone: okay, maybe it isn't a distro, but, to me, it looks like a
perfect solution for the corporate desktop scene

(please don't start a flamewar about my personal distro recommendations
above, they are really just my opinions, and I have hardly sampled all
distros available)

Here is the point that I guess I'm working toward.  If you are having
issues with your installation, say stability for example, it might be
time to re-evaluate your choice of distro.  <shameless-plug-for-debian/>

cheers,
Olaf

(sent from a sometimes-flakey-but-mostly-reliable evolution-1.0.5)