What Distro to use

[Mark Holbert]

Hi all,

I would just like to put my $.02 in.  Many of us are not so lucky to have
tech savvy management (J.L.F. for example).  Pushing them to adopt Linux
over Windows, or even any open source solution is like pulling teeth
sometimes.  The solution for us is to push an open source product that will
give the management a "warm fuzzy" feeling when it comes to responsibility
when the system does go down.

Yes, RedHat may not be able to give the "magical" answer that solves our
problem, but at least everyone in the "high carpet area" (executives) feels
better when us in the trenches have a phone number to call in the middle of
the night.  99.99% of the problems that I run into as a System Admin are
solved by myself or my team (or wonderful groups like PLUG).  The issue is,
who's to answer the other .01%?  For me it's people like you on this list or
others that I have met through my time in the industry, to my CEO, who has
his mail read by his executive assistant because he doesn't want to learn
how to use the mail system, it's someone that he can point a finger at
outside the company.

I'm just happy that I got my boss to look at Linux at ITEC today and be able
show him how easy it is to use.  The demos at the PLUG booth were perfect,
showing how both KDE and GNOME can be used to give a familiar look and feel
yet were more stable then most non-Linux users know was great.  My current
project is getting the company to adopt StarOffice (no flames please, at
least it's open source and not Office).  They love the fact that it's free,
but are afraid to go with it as a standard because of the CHANCE that it
could fall apart and we could lose what support Sun offers now.

Mark Holbert
mark@linuxsoftware.org

----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig White" <craigwhite@azapple.com>
To: <plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us>
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 10:04 AM
Subject: RE: What Distro to use


Bill, I defer to your greater knowledge on things linux and possibly NT.
Regardless of however we feel about Windows NT, Dell, IBM et. al. have made
a lot of money selling servers with it pre-loaded.

However, the decisions that business use to choose a distro should probably
factor in things that might defy what we perceive logical...they might
consider the number of people out there familiar with distribution, ability
to obtain tech assistance via a phone call and many others.

I am certain from all that I have read on this message board that debian is
a much better system for my personal use but that doesn't necessarily extend
to the choice for a business. Obviously, where JLF is CTO, debian is a given
but when I'm asked...I know that in a pinch, I can call RedHat.

Craig

> -----Original Message-----
> From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> [mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us]On Behalf Of Bill
> Warner
> Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 9:42 AM
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: RE: What Distro to use
>
>
>
> > Actually, knowing that Dell, IBM and others are shipping
> Servers with RedHat
> > pre-loaded, it's apparent that not everyone feels the way that
> you do about
> > RedHat. Each distro has it's strength's and weaknesses.
>
> Yea but don't they also sell servers with NT????????
>
> Just because the major companys sell it doesn't mean it
> is the best.  I would prefer Debian to all others.  But
> here at work it has been mandated to use Redhat because
> of the same thinking as the above post.
> --
> --
> Bill Warner, aka Geekus Nosleepus No. 355122
> Direct Alliance Corp.
> Unix/Linux Admin.
>
>
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