> While we're on the subject of distributions: which distro's use kernels > that are close to the stock-standard (linux-xx.tar.gz) kernel? I know > Redhat does bad things to theirs...
I consider the kernel improvements by vendors an improvement, with much more additional testing by the vendor. I didn't need to recompile a kernel ever since I switched to SuSE 3.5y ago. In principle, I trust the skills of the kernel hackers employed by SuSE. The (most of?) SuSE kernels are also Oracle certified, which means SuSE must be increasing the stability of them. In that time I never had a kernel crash, whereas I have had a Red Hat one consistently panic (as in stone-dead) after cat /dev/cdrom (of course this doesn't prove RH is/was to blame). Personally I will stay with SuSE because of the huge pile of software that comes with it, and its ease of use. The installer and system admin program have been rated very highly http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/22882.html and it ships with the most manuals of any distro. (That makes it very suitable for beginners too.) I find it's the best value for a boxed set (half the price of Red Hat). 7 CDs + DVD. Some of the things said about SuSE (on the linux lists in NZ) sounded pretty biased and came from people who have never used it, but I haven't got time for arguments. I compared the Mandrake 8.0 and SuSE 7.2 installers once (both current at the time) and found the SuSE one superior. I haven't seen SuSE 8.0 yet (to hit the stores any day this week), and won't get it because I bought 7.3 and don't want to buy every version. Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is possibly list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.orcon.net.nz/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
