"day brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> [...]
> Sounds neat. I saw a lotta options in the mandrake install, but what I
> didnt see was much in the way of explantion on what they were for, or
> how badly I might need them later. Looking at the boot process, almost
> as long as win 98, some of the stuff looked like it was for networked
> systems, and gross overkill for a dedicated single user system. the
> hassle of superuser I never did get quite straight.
Most of the big "commercial" packages are leaning towards putting more
goodies in to try to differentiate themselves. Debian, on the other hand,
takes a "when it's ready, it's ready" approach. If you install everything in
the initial install, you can -- of course -- wind up with a bloated system.
However, installing the minimum, then using apt-get and similar tools gives
you a very high degree of control.
> Seems like Redhat offered 'dosemu', but I dont recall it in mandrake.
> but mandrake offered a far better video install for xwindows; it listed
> my SiS video driver and the PB el cheapo monitor.
Don't forget that anything is generally available for any distribution,
whether it ships with it or not. Worst case, you have to compile it
yourself, but DOSEMU is definitely available in .rpm and .deb formats for
ease of installation. Neat stuff too. We had a nice thread on it some time
ago that you might want to look up in the archives.
> any idea what debian costs for a priority mail CD? I live in a rural
> area, and downloading anything more than a few meg is like pushing a
> pig thru a python.
Try places like www.cheapbytes.com - They have the Debian 2.2 3 binaries
3-CD set for $6, plus S&H. The web site isn't fancy, but it works.
> Another thing that sucks is the docs. With DR-DOS, you can setup a
> hotkey to _pop up_ a hyperlink menu of dos commands. I aint found that
> in Linux. when I do ask for 'info' or 'man' the damn drive chunks away
> long enough for me to get coffee or blow a bowl with friends. Tutorial
> information is so slow I am loathe to look for it.
Sounds like a slow system. man pages shouldn't take THAT long to come up.
What sort of system? RAM? Between switching sessions (Control-Alt-F[1-6])
and multiple window displays (if using X), you should be covered.
> Would a SCSI help?
Bigger and faster always helps, but I suspect RAM is your problem now.
Unless your hard drive is exceptionally slow. On a 486-class machine, things
shouldn't be overly slow with enough RAM. For a CLI system, 16MB or more
should be adequate but more always helps. If you're running X, then 32MB
would be the absolute minimum RAM I'd try it with, and probably not on a 486
unless you're patient. A lightweight window manager will help (i.e. icewm).
- Bob
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