Pelon wrote:
> A disturbing trend in this modern age
> is that we feel compelled to protect us from
> ourselves. Microsoft offered up a convenient
> black box that protected us from the horrors of
> it's inner truth. Linux was to be the answer to
> that ignorance-by-consent.
>
> I began using Linux over two years ago for the
> sole reason that I could see inside. I could
> break it, rebuild it, tease it, and shape it as I
> pleased. I could play god, or "root" as it were.
>
> But now that the general public has turned on to
> Linux, there are pressures to see it controlled.
> No one wants to see anyone hurt themselves. The
> public must be protected.
>
> As Mandrake, Redhat, or any other distribution
> begins to feel the heat of a distraught public,
> certain measures must be taken. Mandrake's new
> security restrictions are what the public is
> asking for.
>
> Many of us are upset that our former freedoms
> have been robbed of us in the latest release. If
> there was ever a higher purpose to the Linux
> operating system, these changes are it's defeat.
>
> I would recommend two new classes of installation:
>
> 1. protect me from myself
> 2. let me be free
>
> pelon
I'd suggest just using another distribution; that's the point of
distros, to pick one that suits your tastes. Mandrake seems to be
aiming more for the newbie/average desktop user, while distros like
Slackware are aimed for experienced power users (I fall in the middle...
power-user who enjoys a GUI for everything but coding... sucks to be
me). If a distro like Mandrake tried to accomadate everyone: servers,
desktop, power user, shell freak, hacker (good meaning of the word),
hacker (bad meaning of the word), and gamer, they'd have a slight
problem. I mean, in order to be good at one thing, you have to lack in
other areas. And offering all those install options would make bug/beta
testing even harder (something I fear Mandrake has to do a bit better as
it is), could very well increase the install size to that of SuSE (even
requiring 2 CDs for essentianal packages now is just plain ridiculous -
that much crap isn't needed).
If you want choice, you have it. SuSE, RH, Mandrake, Debian, Corel,
Yellow dog, Slackware, and some 1,000,000 more I can't think of right
now.
If you want a good distro, well, you still have all the above. ~,^
Sean Middleditch
