On Sat, 27 Nov 1999, Frank Rocco wrote:
> I am looking at Turbo Linux 4.0, Red Hat 6.1 and Caldera Open Linux.
> Can someone point me to the +/- of each? Red Hat is the most expensive, but
> Open Linux says it won awards. Since I am a newbie, I need some advise. I
> plan to learn and program in Linux.
Frank,
Flip a coin. Each distribution has its adherents and its fanatics (both
pro and con).
From what I see at our local linux clinics, Caldera is probably the
easiest for a newcomer to install and configure. If you want to be a sys
admin or just an ordinary linux geek, you'll probably want to play with
several distributions and learn their differences.
On the other hand, if you want to learn to use linux as a means to an end
(rather than an end in itself), pick one and stick with it.
Check out the GLUE (Groups of Linux Users Everywhere) page at the Linux
Journal's web site (http://www.ssc.com), and find a users group near you.
Attend their meetings and/or clinics, read their mail list and generally get
a feel for what distribution folks in your neighborhood are using. That will
tell you which distribution has the best support for your questions and
problems.
In general, Red Hat tries to be on the bleeding edge. For a company like
mine which runs on linux, that causes big problems at times (such as the
upgrade from 5.2 to 6.x). SuSE seems to be in this mode, too. Debian and
Caldera tend to stay back from the edge and run better debugged versions of
everything.
Flip a coin, pick one and dive in. In a couple of years you'll feel very
comfortable regardless of which distribution you selected.
Rich
Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM)
Making environmentally-responsible mining happen. (SM)
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