Re: too many choices (distros)

--- Darrin Chandler <dwchandler@stilyagin.com> wrote:

> Very good points, but...
>
> I can usually make a snap judgement about whether
> I'd like to walk or
> take a car. The pros and cons are obvious, because I
> understand what's
> involved in each.
>
> The big difference to me is that there's no easy way
> to compare Linux
> distros, apart from installing each one, playing
> with it, noting what I
> like and don't like, then doing it all over again
> for dozens of distro.
> Okay, that takes *WAY* too much time.
>
> What I'd like is a some resource where I could see
> which distros
> specialize in what, what their philosophy is, which
> other distro they're
> derived from, etc., etc. Then if I were building a
> server box I could
> make a shortlist to try out. Same for a desktop
> surfing box.
>
> When I started with Linux (mid/late 90's) there were
> just a handful of
> distros and it wasn't hard to tell them apart. I
> blinked and now there
> are a gazillion.
>
> Alan Dayley wrote:
>
> >If I make take a tangent on this thread and focus
> on the "too many
> >choices" point...
> >
> >First off, I understand the "too many" point of
> view. I also recognize
> >that it is a view that will not go away anytime
> soon. I also accept that
> >it is not a view that is "wrong" or stupid, it just
> is. I do find it
> >facinating when compared to other things. For
> example:
> >
> >"There are sooooo many types of housing to choose
> from. Apartments,
> >condos, townhouses, big, small, downtown, suburban.
> And that is not even
> >touch on architecture, features, paint color and
> everything else! It's
> >hard to figure out!"
> >
> >Or
> >
> >"There are soooo many different modes of
> transportation to choose from.
> >Walking, bicycle, electric, gas, diesel, small,
> big, truck, sedan, Chevy,
> >Ford, etc.! How do I choose!"
> >
> >Or
> >
> >"There are soooo many different kinds of food to
> eat...."
> >"There are soooo many different kinds of shoes...."
> >"There are soooo many different kinds of
> shrubbery...."
> >
> >The above examples sound silly to me because few
> people sit around
> >complaining about the diversity of choices for
> those things. My point is
> >that, to me, choices that have to do with computers
> are among the few
> >(only?) areas of our life where more choice is bad.
> Or at least more
> >choice is more often categorized as bad.
> >
> >Maybe it's because computers are still fairly new
> with only about two
> >decades in the general public. Maybe it's because
> Microsoft has been so
> >successful dominating things that people equate
> their products with what a
> >computer is. Maybe it's just complex enough that
> it scares people. Maybe
> >it's because computers become so key in our lives,
> holding all that
> >personal information, etc. that the choice is more
> intimate to our psyche.
> >
> >Whatever it is, I look forward to the day when
> people accept choice in
> >their computer operating environment as a matter of
> course, just as
> >picking between a mediterranean style or early
> american style couch is
> >just a matter of personal taste.
> >
> >Alan
> >
> >
> >

(isn't top posting bad form in the list? /don't care
that much.)

This isn't the way I hoped the thread would go but oh
well.

I actually did the 'install, try, and move on'
approach when I first started getting into linux just
a few months ago. Yes it was sometimes WAY too time
consuming, but I learned along the way. I did have a
bias though... I was looking more for a distro with
KDE, even though I tried a couple distros with GNOME.

To each his own. ..and it often seems like each has
his own [distro].

...My Short lists...

Beginner desktop:
1 SimplyMepis
2 Ubuntu (based on popularity and articles)

Intermediate Desktop:
1 SimplyMepis (simple and installs in 15-20 minutes)
2 Fedora Core
3 Mandriva

Techie's Toy desktop(beyond my skill):
1 Gentoo
2 Slackware
3 Source-Based distros

Corporate desktop
1 Suse
2 Mandriva or Mepis Corp Edition
3 Fedora Core/RH

Personal server:
1 Fedora Core (its what I know best)
2 Debian

Corp/Commercial server:
1 Red Hat (commercial support, know lots of places use
it)
2 Debian

-j


        
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