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Subject: Newbies Prayers Answered!!!! (LONG) From: mike <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 05:50:09 -0500 http://www.redmondlinux.org I have been following the development of Redmond Linux for a while now, never actually using it. I decided to change around my LAN, and figured now was as good a time as any to give it a try. All I can say is wow. Flawless install in under 20 minutes on a duron600@1050 abit kt7 256megs, generic nic, SBPC 128, tnt2 m64. If you're frustrated by linux, or are thinking about trying it out read on. This is simply the best option for those looking for a windows alternative, or a linux playground/schoolyard. It addresses every issue I have ever heard a new user complain about. If you are an experienced user, I highly suggest you recommend this distro to potential newbies or frustrated newbies you may encounter. I'm not at all affiliated with Redmond Linux, I just see this as a solution to the flame wars that clog up the linux newsgroups. Anyway... on with the review. The installer proceded as follows: 1) Put CD in drive, boot off CD, if you currently use windows you can start from there as well booting from the CD or it will make a boot floppy. 2) It auto probes for mouse, keyboard, and videocard/monitor. These steps consisted of hitting next until they were done. 3) Choose partition to install on. You have the option of the whole disk, existing partitions, free space, or expert, where you do the partitioning. I don't know if you can partition on the fly, but even if you could I would recommend partitioning in another app. 4) The install starts. There is only one possible config. Easy for new users who don't know what exists in the linux realm. 5) Set up users, enter names and passwords. Easy. 6) Set up networking, and printing. DHCP, none, or manual settings. Printing using cups and it looks like gimp-print. Piece of cake as well. 7) Play solitaire until done. Its really a step!!! 8) make boot disk/restart. Like I said. A complete install in under 20 minutes. You can look up what it comes with at http://www.redmondlinux.org After playing around for a few hours I'm still very impressed. The kde menu (your only window manager choice) is set up neatly and logically organized. In every menu the most often used choices are there, and "advanced" options are under a submenu. For example,the section "music and movies," has mp3 player (xmms in disguise) dvd/divx player (xine in disguise) an option to watch tv... as selections, as well as a sub-menu option for "more multimedia programs," which contains the mixer, midi mapper, and arts builder. The menus are very simple to understand, and every program works perfectly. Full screen divx, handled much better than win2k did on this box. The desktop is a clone of windows. "My linux computer" opens to give shortcuts to all your drives, which are all perfectly configured to automount. CD's auto-run, ex... DVDs automatically load with xine, every file type I tried was correctly linked to its application. The feel is much more windows like than linux. There is no home directory mentioned (it does exist, just silently), and drives are presented as if they were not part of a contiguous filesystem, but separate file systems. The "Network Browser" icon opens up to all the Windows workgroups you can access from your box, browsing is the same as with windows. NO MOUNTING NEEDED!!!! Unfortunately, if you want to access a smb/windows share directly through other programs you must mount it, or copy the file to your local drive. RedmondLinux developers have made all the program choices for you. They chose mozilla as the web browser and email client, but of course you could install whichever you wanted. They did provide IMHO a great selection of apps. There is one very strong app for every task you may need. I personally would only want to add kate, kmail, knode, and maybe star-office, these are personal choices; an equally powerful alternative to each is included. Everything is there in one form or another, including all of the common linux browser pluggins. Administration is a breeze. The Developers made front-ends for almost everything you could want, and incorporated them into the KDE Control Center as pluggins. Suddenly the KDE control center is as powerful as linuxconf, no joke, but much easier to use. They did the same advanced options thing from the menu here as well, which lends itself well to its target audience. I personally like the fact that the developers added a link to turn sshd on or off, and called it remote access configuration. The launcher hints at the possibility of remote trouble shooting/repairs. This would be a godsend for newbies, as well as a sound business opp for the company. Overall the distro surpasses Windows in ease of use, hands down. That is a pretty bold statement, but if you try it out you will probably agree. However, it is definitely not a distro for power users. I have been using linux since redhat 7.0 came out, not that long but I know my way around pretty well, and this distro would do everything I need it to out of the box, except for satisfy my desire to tinker, and experiment. I like setting up a system just right, and Redmond Linux is more of a pre-defined (?) OS. Of course this means they track every app they distribute, and know they will work right out of the box. Every single app and frontend worked flawlessly. Litterally less than 20 minutes to a 100% stable 100% functional linux system. Not even a single additional program is needed to be totally functional. A great deal of polish went into this distro and it shows. I know several hours of testing is not long, and may not give a broad picture of the distro, but the difference between Redmond Linux and other distros is so profound, a few minutes is all you will need to see its benefits. I plan on putting this distro on my mother's first PC (a Christmas gift). If that is not a measure of its simplicity I don't know what is. I must caution that this is the first (1.0) release of Redmond Linux, and it has had 2 (major?) bugs reported. There is an error with KDE apps (nearly all the apps in this distro). They potentially crash on saving. This is fixed by downloading this file, or waiting for the 1.01 release: http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/redmondlinux/redmond/build42 /rl/install/RPMS/kdelibs-2.2.1-42rl.i586.rpm un-installing the included kdelibs: Press control alternate and F1 at the same time log in as root type: CD /<directory where you saved the above file> press enter (this moves you to the directory) type: rpm -e kdelibs --nodeps press enter type: rpm -Uhv kdelibs-2.2.1-42rl.i586.rpm press enter (this un-installs the broken version and installs the fixed) type: exit press enter Press control and alternate and F5 to switch back to the desktop Log out, and log back in. The second error involves a bug with CD writing, and is explained on the Redmond linux news group, which can be accessed from the Redmond linux home page. I have to add that I experienced neither of the bugs enjoy, mike `--------------- Forwarded message (end) -- Douglas J Hunley (doug at hunley.homeip.net) - Linux User #174778 Admin: http://linux.nf Admin: http://hunley.homeip.net A day without sunshine is like... night. _______________________________________________ Linux-users mailing list Archives, Digests, etc at http://linux.nf/mailman/listinfo/linux-users
