If you're talking about Mandrake 6.1, the answer is no. The only gotcha seems to be
if someone has a TNT2 card. It will come up as a Diamond V770. For some mfgs you
don't probe, for other mfgs you go ahead and probe. If you're talking about Red Hat
6.1, the answer is YES, there a several major bugs in the install routine. Red Hat
just sent me an e-mail that they now havea new install disk image to download that
fixes the bugs. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I wouldn't try an install
without it. My background is as a power user, not an IT pro or programmer. I've used
computer's for almost every conceivable function outside of the IT arena, from 3D
animation, to desktop publishing, to industrial control systems. I've only been
around Linux for about 2 weeks, so I am truly giving you an answer from a newbie's
viewpoint.
I would send them home with Mandrake for these reason's.
1. It's the only one that let's you pick from a list of sound cards if their pick
doesn't work, the other listed below expect you to fix it after the installation
2. It's the only one that asked me about setting up my printer during the
installation - very important for a stand alone workstation.
3. It has more productivity software than the others on the downloadable
distribution.
4. The support seems to be the best.
One more point- I'm going through some of the major Linux publications, and right
now the best bang for the buck seems to be O'Reilly's Running Linux (Linux in a
Nutshell is a reference guide, not a beginner's book). There is a new book out I saw
but haven't picked up yet. The name escapes me at the moment. It looks good, but the
price is $53. That's a little high for most students unless you're teaching working
professionals.
I hope this helps
Sam
Seth Gibson wrote:
> On Sat, 23 Oct 1999, you wrote:
> > My advice is to get the mandrake release too. I'm going through installing
> > most of the major releases that you can download or get get from LinuxMall for
> > $2.00 in order to write a review on them from a newbie's perspective. Here's
> > what I've discovered so far-
> >
> Are there any major MAJOR bugs in 6.1 that would turn some less computer
> literate people off? Im going to be teaching a computer class pretty soon
> here and i'd like to give each of the participants a copy of Linux to take
> home and try, but i dont want to hand out something thats going to leave a
> sour impression because of what might be to you or i a really simple bug..
> Thanks all!
>
> --
>
> Seth Gibson
> www.mp3.com/PSM0x2710
> members.tripod.com/cybernetic_thunder (Under Construction)
> To paraphrase my friend stephen:
> "life can be like that great ifs xscreensaver. . .random garbage goes in
> and sometimes, beautiful things come out."
