choosing a distro

**headnoton** · 09-22-2009, 09:45 AM

Hello,

I was wondering why i would use fedora ? From what I understand this is not for production environments but for testing and research, is this true?

Cheers

**hysterik** · 10-01-2009, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by headnoton

Hello,

I was wondering why i would use fedora ? From what I understand this is not for production environments but for testing and research, is this true?

Cheers

Fedora is a good desktop distro. Ubuntu as well. Their package repositories generally contain things which are useful on the desktop, but commonly left out of enterprise distributions. I would not use either for a server. For that I would either use CentOS or SuSE, or if you want something more Ubuntu-like then use debian.

**headnoton** · 10-02-2009, 08:18 AM

That makes sense. I had decided on Centos for server but nice to have it confirmed!

**beezlebubsbum** · 10-06-2009, 12:15 PM

I'm actually in the process of making an article on how to turn a standard Ubuntu 9.04 install into a server, more particularly in regards to web serving and windows file sharing (printing also included in this). I'll provide a link to the article once it's done.

I installed Fedora the other day, and it was like I went back in time with Linux. It still was slow and bloated just like the first version, and it just seemed to lack the simplicity and polish of newer distros such as Ubuntu. I was particularly frustrated with the fact that I couldnt connect to my home wireless with KDE, but for some reason it was no problems under the gnome install.

I never liked Ubuntu in the start, and I never actually understood why there was so much hype, but I can see it now, particularly after not using a Linux distro for a few years. My web server has been running Ubuntu for the last couple of months without a hitch. Haven't had any weird problems or unplanned shutdowns, which was a huge difference with the previous Windows Server 2003 OS that came with the server.

**headnoton** · 10-09-2009, 11:41 PM

http://www.10reasons.net/content/why...e-centos-linux

Not that i needed reassurance

**argon99** · 10-21-2009, 09:18 AM

Suse, Ubunbtu, Sbayon are good if you want everything done the way the designers of the distro designed it for. Try to deviate and it's a can of worms. As Linux becomes more main stream a lot of people that have trouble finding the keyboard like these distros, and other people that just don't want to be bothered. I'm not like that. I want to have my system the way I want it not the way some guy I never met tells me I have to have it. That's why I use Slackware. It's a very easy distro to setup the way you want. Every setting is done with a text file. No guis that hind the under lying system.

Every few years I go on a distro testing spree. I have been doing that for a couple of months now. I have tested Ubuntu, and it's other flavors, OpenSuse, Sabayon and a few lesser know distros ( even one from Japan but I don't read Japonese so it has it's draw backs. I can read Chinese somewhat but they are totally different in the written form.). At this point I thought Sabayon might just get me to use it on my home theater but no it is just to much of a PITA to get it to do what I want and not what it wants. Some people are fine doing what a machine tells them to do. That is the majority of the population and everybody that uses windows.

I do have OpenSuse on one of my laptops. I use OpenSuse because I put it on my 78 year old mother's computer knowing she would like the eye candy. She lives fifteen hundred miles away and I admin her system with x11vnc but I wanted a common system at my home so when she says that this or that isn't working I can look at my system and have some idea what she is talking about. When I had it up and running my nephew came into the room and said " Gee that's just like Vista." This is all the uneducated understand is the eye candy. So the herd move towards what is pleasing to the eye not what is most functional. The newer distros are for people that don't mind using those forms that have a small squares for each character to write in. This is forming the Human to fit the machine.

Slackware is the oldest distro that is still maintained and in use. It has a huge following of people that don't make a big deal out of using it, like apple heads, but they just get done what they want done.

There used to be a saying ( and it's still true), If you used Red Hat ( or any other distro) you would understand Red Hat, But if you used Slackware you would know understand Linux.

It doesn't have a fancy gui for installation but it takes me about thirty minuets to set up a machine, and that's with waiting for all four plus gigs of software to load. So if you haven't at least tried Slackware you are missing out on one of the best distros out there. I have it as a desktop machine as well as a machine running my firewall, router, AP, DNS, DHCP and NAS. I think you should at least give it a try. Take some time to read the Slackbook, found at www dot slackbook dot org (stupid froum software won't let me post links)
and you will be armed with all you need to know to have one of the oldest and best distros running anything you want it to do.

**beezlebubsbum** · 10-21-2009, 12:57 PM

Thanks for the in depth reply. Scary you mention slackware as I just finished downloading and attempting to install it. I downloaded the 4gb iso, but for some reason when it boots from the install disc to load the installer it says it can't find Linux.Img. I noticed it wasn't on the disc contents,but the iso doesn't seem to be corrupt. I have actually tried Slackware in the past and did actually enjoy
it. I liked the way that packages were installed and it's modular structure. I also spent some time with gentoo which I liked when I managed to get it going in the end lol.

Good to see someone on the forums apart from bots lol

**argon99** · 10-23-2009, 06:55 AM

Originally Posted by beezlebubsbum

Thanks for the in depth reply. Scary you mention slackware as I just finished downloading and attempting to install it. I downloaded the 4gb iso, but for some reason when it boots from the install disc to load the installer it says it can't find Linux.Img. I noticed it wasn't on the disc contents,but the iso doesn't seem to be corrupt. I have actually tried Slackware in the past and did actually enjoy
it. I liked the way that packages were installed and it's modular structure. I also spent some time with gentoo which I liked when I managed to get it going in the end lol.

Good to see someone on the forums apart from bots lol

Something went wrong with the download. Did you check it against the md5sum? I personally don't like KDE4. I completely agree with Linus Travolds when he said of KDE4 "What a disaster." So I use Slackware 12.2. There are people that have made packages for Gnome on Slackware but I have had nothing but problems with them. There is also packages for Enlightenment that work well.

Down load it again from a different mirror and check the md5sum. Also use a different browser. Some browsers, such a IE, screw up the down load by replacing the end of line characters. The safest is to use FTP and not a browser at all. Get the ftp address with a browser then use FTP, set to binary, to download the iso.

Hoe that gets you there.