> you mean RH 7.3, right? still, given that this person is new to linux
there

I put 7.3 initially, but there were some issues with 7.3 because IIRC it was
on 700meg CDs that many CDburners couldn't read correctly.  So I changed it
to 7.2.  The person talked about a pretty old system (P100, I think).
Granted, it was a comparison, but if that's what they have, they'll have an
old CDrom.  Better safe than sorry.

> a more point-n-click approach to management and configuration. YAST is
> amazingly complete and easy to use, MDK's control panels are decent  if
not
> as comprehensive and polished.

Mandrake's news recently gives tem the potential of being a hard sell.  I
KNOW they'll be supported by the community even if they die, but the initial
sell is still hard.  (Debian is a great example of a distro that lives and
dies by community developement rather than commercial success).  RH ISOs are
east to get and easy to install.  This person wants to TRY Linux.  Suse
blows unless you buy a copy (or have acces to someone elses).  Since money
was directly addressed as an issue for the person initially, RH is easier.

> i agree 100%, but the corollary is that continued success will keep people
> with the system. there was a rash of people who installed linux in the
> 1999-2001 time period who then later switched away from it. sure they got
it
> installed and it worked easily right away, as by that time Linux
installers
> were pretty good. but the support and maintenance of a Linux box was more
> than most could manage without becoming a full sysadmin.

True, but Red Hat is better documented than most.  When I google for
anything Linux, RH is mentioned in almost all of my replies.  Plus, everyone
has worked with RH.  They aren't my favorite distro.  I'm not pushing them
because I think they rule.  But in fairness, if I'm learning, and I need
help with something, RH will be the path of least resistance when I turn to
other people.

> use a system that does this for you ... MDK's "lets go fetch the updates"
at
> then end of the install is great for this.

Fair enough.  And having recommended RH, that's why I specifically mentioned
it.  As has been mentioned here brfore, (and this also applies to the
preceeding statement) there are add-ons for RH which make it fairly
straightforward to keep up to date.

Kev.

Reply via email to