I do not claim to be a technically knowledgeable person, but I did manage to
install
Slackware back in 96 or so, have used RH since 4.0, have installed Corel,
Caldera, SUSE, and even TurboLinux at one time or another. After a
temporary bad experience with RH7 and wanting to put together a machine with
all sorts of tools for Python, Perl, PHP, Postgres, Mysql and HTML editing
as well as the usual productivity stuff, I tried Debian. I found the
install was a real hard row to hoe and the desktop config a pain.
On the plus side the apt was a great tool, the whole packageing system
really, really works well, and all the stuff I wanted got installed and was
running without any drama.
I then tried Stormix 2000, the latest hail release. Boy is it slick. The
single free CD contains helix-gnome, netscape and a great collection of
apps. the Stormix GUI front end for apt and dselect make installing and
upgrading simple and it just works. I then updated and upgraded over the
net using a 28.8 modem connection. It took awhile, but without fanfare, I
had everything I needed and it all worked. I place great emphasis on things
that work. I use tools, I don't want to play computer guru. The Stormix
desktop is nice and a bonus.
All in all, I rate Debian as brought to you via Stormix as very good indeed.
While many things seem to be around in rpm format, the completeness of the
deb packages is amazing. If you need a package, it is there and you do not
need to worry about missing a lib. For me, it is far better than RPM.
After I get under the hood, I may change my mind and it has only been two
weeks. I am running RH7 now and it is Ok too, but I think Debian has got me
as a loyal fan.
Ed Lawson
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