> -----Original Message-----
> From: Herman Van Keer (softouch) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Tima Vaisburd wrote:
> > Just a small comment. I'm expecting from a good distribution
> > like Linux Mandrake not only stability, performance
> > and up-to-date programs, but also a kind of advise from the
> experts -
> > which programs to learn and use.
> >
>
> I agree on statement one: stability, performance in a distribution.
>
> Non on statement two: the choice should be yours. The only issue for a
> distribution should be stability.
> I do not think they should advice you what to use...
And this is precisely why such distributions will never replace
Windows in the "average" home. I've been loading distributions on and off
since 1994. Now, it's my job, but prior to this it was a casual venture.
One of the most maddening things is the fact there are many, many choices
when it comes to common elements like newsreaders, fax programs, modem
dialers, terminal emulators, and <ugh> text editors, etc., etc. I'm not
saying that we should be fed minimal options similar to a Windoze install,
but I, for one, would welcome a voice from a distribution saying - we've
given you X,Y, and Z - but we suggest you use Y for the best performance and
flexibility. Sure, it's a matter of choice, but you've got to start
somewhere - and the average home user who wants access to eBay and to be
able to send Aunt Betty a birthday email does not want to load & evaluate a
dozen text programs to find out which one is "right for me". That's why
Windoze has had the insurgence it has - it is what it is (for what that's
worth) and leaves very little for the user to deal with in terms of
application selection.
I know, it's all opinion, but that's mine. After 5 years diddling
with Linux I've just loaded Mandrake 6.1 for the 3rd time, and still ended
up with a Vietnamese Terminal, a Kanji Terminal, 2 mail clients, 2 IRC
clients, and a newsreader that I can say with 100% certainty I did not
select for install. And PCMCIA support that will not come up (that worked
fine in 6.0). I did hit "F1" on a few of those "unwanted packages" and it's
my theory that they got flagged for install without showing on the
interface. It's really maddening to try and get consistency in
installations from dist to dist.
I was really amazed to see that it took me 10 minutes to set up my
6.1 install before the first package got copied - and there's still some
lack of clarity as to why "packageQ" which provides an X-based news reader
comes under one install category and "packageR" which provides an X-based
news reader comes under another - seems to me _all_ terminal emulation
programs should come under the heading "terminal emulation programs" - but
what do I know......
I really like choices, but sometimes, given enough food, "lower life
forms" (relative newbies like myself) will gorge themselves to death.....
Red Hat 6.1 will be out soon in lots of new flavors, including a stripped
out version. It will be interesting to see what it holds....
Don
<insert witty .sig here>
