Re: Distro choice not easy for Windows people...

[Jason Greenwood]

I thought this might be the case - name recognition only.

Cheers

Jason

Fisher, Robert (FXNZ CHC) wrote:

I picked RedHat as my first distro simply because it was the first one to
come to my attention. I think that would be a symptom of the greater
penetration RedHat has/had.
Robert

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

-----Original Message-----
From: 	Jason Greenwood [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent:	Tuesday, 2 September 2003 11:36 p.m.
To:	[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:	Re: Distro choice not easy for Windows people...

I couldn't agree more! I understand why people might like RH but I fail 
to see what it has that Mandrake doesn't...OTOH, I can clearly see what 
mandrake does that RH does not - namley GUI config tools that work well 
- and intuitively.

Cheers

Jason
PS, most here know my RH sentiments already but honestly, I'd like to 
know why someone would use RH OVER Mandrake, support, etc. aside. We're 
talking home users here...

antonovich wrote:

 

As someone who is in the process of migrating I have a little experience 
here... though I can't say that I am even a very experienced Windows person
   

 

(in fact I'm really not!). However, I first tried installing Redhat 8 and
   

was 
 

very quickly discouraged. In fact, it delayed my beginning to use Linux on
   

a 
 

daily basis by at least 6 months. Since installing Mandrake 9.1 I have been
   

 

inseparable from my little beastie... much to the dismay of my wife! I am 
fully prepared to believe that Redhat is more powerful, or cleaner, or 
whatever, but I found from first putting in Disc 1 Mandrake was just
   

simpler 
 

to grasp. The install was more intuitive for a Windows person and easier to
   

 

understand for a person of reasonably limited IT experience. It basically
   

did 
 

what I wanted.
I also find that the gui system tools, particularly Mandrake control
   

centre, 
 

are a lot easier to understand. Maybe almost exactly the same tools (KDE 
system guard, etc) are available for Redhat but sure as s@@t I couldn't
   

work 
 

out weather I was Arthur or Martha in Redhat.
It may just have been luck - that I was in the right mood and the sun was
   

at 
 

the right angle - but I don't know how long it would have taken me to
   

migrate 
 

if I only had Redhat. I may even decide in 6 months that Redhat is "better"
   

 

and start using that. I have an open mind, but I would DEFINITELY recommend
   

 

Mandrake over Redhat for the "reasonably bright and interested but not yet
   

a 
 

true computer geek [trying hard to be!] who has experience only with
   

Windows" 
 

person.
At the end of the day, however, if I had got it in my head that Redhat was 
better I probably would have tried with that for a bit longer. My advice 
would be... "Ok, if you think Redhat is better give that a go. But I know 
quite a few people who have found Mandrake good for getting to know Linux,
   

so 
 

if Redhat is a bit confusing give it a try." Or something similar.
Cheers
Anton
ps. As soon as I get time (when will that be?) I will probably try a few 
others... Suse, Gentoo... as... why not!?