> My question to you is how do you find them (which one do you think is > best; if there is such a thing as 'best'). Any particular features etc > you prefer on one over the other?
Redhat is *far* easier to install on a slow machine. After installation is another matter :) Redhat's installation programs are apparently compiled rather than interpeted; they move directly from one screen to the next. At some points in debian, the wait is measured in minutes (particularly module installation). The installation program constantly looks to check the current state, which is where most of the wasted time goes. Redhat's rpm is not as advanced as dpkg (though again, it seems to be faster). There are some dependency issues it doesn't adress. On the other hand, if you try to install a package with dependency problems with dpkg, it informs you which other packages it directly depends on. rpm does this recursively (why doesn't dpkg, for that matter). rpm has a built in access method for ftp. Debian has an ftp-mode for dselect, which can automatically handle any updates. dselect is almost a nice package. It classifies packages by types, and handles dependencies. On the other hand, it is a nightmare for beginners if there is a missing or wrong-version package with dependency problems, and it is close to unusable without a pentium or better. The selection of .deb files seems much richer than for .rpm files; i couldn't find a couple of things i regularly used when i installed redhat a couple of weeks ago. >Are there any reviews (as neutral as possible) on how the two compare? I'm not claiming neutrality, but the above is the closest i've seen :) > Are they compatible? partway. the alien package can convert .rpm's to .deb's. Some dependencies may not translate corectly; i'm not sure. >How hard is it to move from one to the other? If nothing else, copy /etc (for reference, not use), keep /home, erase everything else & just install. rick -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .