Hello,
The first distribution I ever used was Slackware. It's a great
distribution, but Mandrake is better.
I used to have all my software in .tgz format, having to re-compile and
re-install everything with every new release. Many times, I would forget a
patch, and end up re-compiling and re-installing again. That is the
traditional Unix way of doing things, and that's what Slackware is using.
RedHat, Mandrake, Caldera and SuSE use RPM. It's the best thing since
sliced bread. Pristine sources, easy to install, uninstall, upgrade. Same
configuration on multiple architechtures, processors, even different
operating systems.
Right now, almost all of my machines run Mandrake, except our gateway and
web servers, which still run Slackware, because they're heavily customized
and I lost some of the source to the modifications. But I'm replacing them
by brand new Mandrake 6.1 servers.
Mandrake is really stable, very easy to configure and install. I use the
kickstart feature to have the same configuration on many servers. This
feature lets me re-install a server in less than 10 minutes.
Mandrake is also heavily optimized, and includes much more network
applications than Slackware. My ISP runs on Mandrake servers,
and several run as much as 128 IP-based Apache virtual hosts. The only
downtime I have are due to power failures. If speed is an issue, Mandrake
gave me a 5-30% performance improvement on my web servers.
I would never go back to Slackware again. I tested almost every
distribution, and Mandrake is the best. The only other I use is the
single-floppy Linux Router project for firewalls, routers, and VPN
gateways.
Jean-Michel Dault
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 18:56:39 -0400
> From: Paul Hoy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [expert] Slackware Vs Mandrake - Who is better?
>
> Hopefully, my question is appropriate for this forum. If not, I'll wirthdraw
> it immediately.
>
> Here's the question: I've been told that Slackware is a better
> Linux distribution because it's more stable in a network environment, it most
> closely resembles Unix, and it can be optimized on 386 to 586 Systems. Also,
> it's generally faster than the other distributions. For the sake of desktop
> accessibility, Mandrake sacrifiies speed and stability. The only Slackware
> drawback is that it can be a challenge to install. Is there any truth to all
> this?
>
> I actually enjoy Mandrake; it's the best distribution I've used. Of course,
> I've only used two others (Redhat, Caldera). However, it would be interesting
> to hear what more seasoned Linux users have to say about Mandrake vs. Slackware.
>
> Thanks all
>
> Paul Hoy
>
