6 May
2002
6 May
'02
6:17 p.m.
On Mon, 6 May 2002, Richard Erlacher wrote:
I don't see how it could be any easier to install
than Win98. I just put the
CD in the drive and reset the machine. Then I go away, to lunch, perhaps, and
when I'm back the drive is freshly formatted as a single partition under FAT32
and the OS is completely installed, the drivers in place, the modem ready to
align with the internet parameters it wants (server names, addresses, etc) and
then I can install applications. If I don't want the HDD reformatted, I have
to stay long enough to tell it not to do that. It looks to see what the
hardware is and installs the appropriate drivers. It builds its own swap
file.
This I have trouble swallowing. I do have to install Windows
98, and 98SE, regularly, and as far as I'm aware there is no walk-away
install written/scripted [1]. You have to partition your drive, unless
it's prepartitioned, you choose your install type, etc, etc.
And you seem to have missed the fact that when the Linux install is
done, *** the applications are in place ***. RH, which was my example,
can automatically partition & format your drive. All hardware is
autodetected - except your mouse [2] - and configured. There are several
fill-in-the-blanks ISP config tools. The GUI interface is configured.
And, most likely, everything else.
[1] RedHat, and I believe SuSE, offer true walkaway install scripts.
From a RH box, you can use a GUI point&click
interface to set up a boot
floppy that will install exactly what you want, How you
want it. Insert
floppy, turn on power, go away for ~25 minutes, come back, remove
floppy, reboot. Gorgeous.
Nevertheless, I can grab what's on the various
sites. We do have a few T3's
after all.
I haven't seen RH 7.3 yet, which I think released today. Meaning all
their mirrors will be hammered for a week. V7.2 is sweet.
Contrary to what you seem to believe, I don't mind
a command line at all.
Much of my editing is done in WordStar. ( I like to be able to prune out
columns, and few text editors allow that.) Almost everything I do with
respect to hardware development and testing is done on a DOS-only box.
I don't "believe" anything, necessarily. The fact that you're here
at
all would tend to contraindicate CLI-phobia.
I recognize that there are some pretty decent Linux
based cross-compilers and
simulators, not to mention cross-assemblers and debuggers. I just don't want
to have to learn to parse cryptic gibberish like what was presented as a
"cute" example by one of the script kiddies demonstrating his prowess at perl
or whatever. I just don't have time to try to impress somebody else. I just
want to get the work out.
I'm not a "l337 Linux D00D" I don't do perl, or C, for that matter.
I'm OK at scripting, and a hell of a troubleshooter. A large part of my
job is using Linux & Unix boxen to help Windows boxes communicate
safely. My desktop box at home runs Linux. I check my email, do
research, watch movies, listen to CD's, do my books, and write the
documentation I can't avoid on it. I've found that all that happens
very easily in Linux.
I haven't had a Windows crash resulting in a data
loss except for one recent
occasion where my elder son presented me with a diskette that had been in one
of the computers at school. Thank goodness for backups, however burdensome
they may be!
I'm not even going into the virus situation.
So which version/release of Linux do you hold in
highest esteem? Why? What
are its strengths? Has it any annoying weaknesses?
Debian. If I want to do something, and the command isn't there, I
type "apt-cache search <keyword>" Apt, the software manager, returns a
list of packages whose descriptions contain the keyword. If I see what
I want, and I usually do, I type "apt-get install <name-of-package>" and
it is so. Located, downloaded, installed and configured. If there are
config options, they are presented in a clear, well-explained dialog.
If I want to upgrade an existing packeage, same command. Apt goes out,
looks for a newer release, gets it, installs it. Or, "apt-get
dist-upgrade" does same for every package installed.
It has the most godawful package selection interface - dselect - in
Creation. "Tasksel", the alternative, and the commandline tools are
fairly straightforward and easy, but dselect has frightened away many a
prospective Debianista.
Debian has a rep for being the "hackers' distro", and for being very
raw. It does take more work initially to bring up a Debian install.
After that, it's a no-brainer. Everything is done.
The truth is, I like RedHat, if anybody besides me has root or
"elevated" privileges. It's as close to a Universal Distribution as
there is. And it has KickStart.
I do Linux training, and a lot of it is on RedHat, so when I
say it's easy to use, install and learn, I'm not talking through my hat.
Doc