> Mandriva has been in "Desktop Linux business" since it was created. > Ubuntu just started.
Before putting my two cents in, I have to respond to that. (1) In terms of desktop platforms, _Linux_ "just started." I don't think Mandriva really has a time or or experience advantage, given Ubuntu's strong Debian connection. What matters is the team and the community behind a distribution. I'm sure there are many good reasons to use Mandriva, but the fact that it has been around longer isn't one of them. Want to make that argument? Look at Slackware. (2) Have you looked at Ubuntu's website? You should check out http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/philosophy if nothing else. I haven't seen another Linux distribution that is anywhere near as user-friendly as Ubuntu. And the team behind it? Today a security issue with the Breezy installer came up in the forums. There was a security update in under 12 hours from that inital forum post (or 90 minutes after it got digg'ed, if that's more relevant to you). </soapbox> Things I can speak to from personal experience: --GNOME. If I'm going to support people using Linux as a desktop platform, I want to support them using the desktop that is easiest to provide support _for_. GNOME wins. --OpenOffice2 rocks my socks, but (as stated in a previous post) there are people in certain specialties (eg. Law) that will find it lacking. Codeweavers has them covered. --Photoshop > Gimp *IF* you're a Photoshop power user *AND* you have the whole range of Adobe apps that really make Photoshop part of a publishing platform. For the rest of us, Gimp is great. :) --Evolution (mail) practically a drop-in for Outlook these days, but do you really want a desktop app to check your mail? gmail is more portable, mutt as powerful and accessible from a CLI... --Widgets GNOME and KDE both come with tons of these on most distros. --Calendar see Evolution --Address Book see Evolution --Gaim (adium) supports AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN, Jabber, IRC... did I forget one? Peace, Cristobal M. Palmer UNC-CH SILS Student [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ils.unc.edu/~cmpalmer "Television-free since 2003" -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
