When I first installed it, I really liked Mdk 7.0-2 - real nifty new
installer, supermount, XFree3.3.6, the first graphical install to work
with my SiS 6326 chip, ... Yes, I thought it was really nice. Then the
cracks started to appear - sound card that worked under Ver 6 wouldn't
install under 7, Netscape had yucky b&w icons, cd burner not linked
properly, and wouldn't burn when it was, wheel mouse that wheeled
without help under 6 didn't under 7, partitioning tool buggy, expert
install option absolutely unusable - how the hell do you know what is
selected and what isn't? - the "magic 50%" install rule - it only fills
your partition to 50%, regardless of what you really wanted, ...
Now, weeks later, some of the above are fixed and some aren't, but I put
it down to my "el cheapo" buying - PCchips motherboard, ide cdrw, etc
and lack of knowledge/skill - ie my fault...
Today, I feel differently. We have had a Mdk 6 machine at work for
some time, and its supervisor today decided to install 7.0-2 . He
started by booting from a boot floppy, the install locked when it tried
to initialize the CD. So I suggested that he set the BIOS to boot from
CD (it was previously set to boot from the floppy, then the ide drive.)
and this time the install went nicely, until he hit the expert select
packages fiasco - he couldn't make any more sense of it than I could -
so he cancelled that and started again, this time being careful not to
select expert! It loaded the packages (why is Mandrake so slow doing
this, compared to red hat?) and then locked up as it started the X
configuration. Rebooted the machine, everything started up well, but no
X. At this stage my colleague threw the ver 7 cd in the bin, and will be
putting 6 back on the machine next week. (No - he doesn't want to know
how to fix it, or what went wrong.)
Also today, I installed the BeOS 5 (Personal Edition) operating system
that I downloaded last night. It really just unpacked the files. I
rebooted the machine, and hey! presto ... BeOS! Funny, video worked,
sound worked, Cdrw burnt cd's, ... all with NO installation questions,
NO how-to's, No hassles. OK - so there is nothing written for BeOS yet,
and I'm not serious about keeping it, just curious, BUT, it proved you
can write a hassle free installer THAT WORKS!
OK - back to Linux - the current attitude that if something didn't work,
it's because you didn't read the instructions or your hardware is faulty
IS SIMPLY NOT ACCEPTABLE to me any more - If it doesn't work FIRST TIME
it's because its broken, and needs fixing.
The first Linux distribution that produces a hassle free installer that
works (no if's, but's, or maybe's - I mean works - full stop!)
WILL SUCCEED, all the rest will only be installed by enthusiasts (which
I still count myself among) and are doomed to their rightful resting
place in the garbage bin.
Now, it's time for my big decision - Do I, like my colleague, consign
the Ver 7 install I have spent so much time on to oblivion, and go back
to Ver 6 because it worked, or do I persevere, and try to get 7 up and
running properly, or, perhaps, do I try RedHat 6.2, or just wait for a
distro with kernel 2.4 & XFree 4? I really don't know, and I really
don't expect anyone else to decide for me, I just know that my
perceptions of install problems will never be the same again.
