[CLUE-Tech] information

[Michael Riversong]

Good question, and always a fun one to answer.  Each version of Linux 
has the same free operating system at its core.  And each version has a 
few advantages, generally due to additional programs that come with it.  
I've experienced a few distributions so far, and here's a brief summary 
of a few opinions that have developed from these experiences.  Results 
may vary, as each person is free to pick whichever distribution we like 
best.

Red Hat:  Probably the most well known.  The people who run this company 
appear to know what they're doing.  They provide a lot of extras, which 
can make an installation easier to operate and more useful.  We have 
6.1, a really old one, and 7.3 running now.  The 7.3 comes with a number 
of nice games which our elementary students really appreciate.  Beware 
of the 8.0 version -- have seen a lot of horror stories about it.  9.0 
appears to be more stable, but it won't run on everything.

Corel:  The first Linux i used.  It has a very nice interface, but the 
way it sets up outside programs is nonstandard.  Therefore, it is very 
difficult to do anything useful.  I know of people who have hacked it 
and made things work, but i don't have that kind of time available.

Mandrake:  Just used their 7.0, which is a bit older.  It was nice, but 
didn't include much.  We ended up wiping it off after a few weeks.

Debian:  Haven't used it yet, but have heard a lot of good reports.

Turbolinux:  Was difficult to dig into the documentation.  They say 
right up front that this is optimized for Asian users, so if you have 
needs for Japanese, Chinese, and Korean support it's worth checking into.

SuSe:  Haven't used this either, but again a lot of good reports.  
They're doing a good job of marketing these days.

On Thursday, May 29, 2003, at 04:41 PM, Bill Hanzel wrote:

> I'm "CLUE"less about LINUX.  I see "Red Hat", "Mandrake" and other 
> LINUX offerings.  What is the difference, advantages or other things I 
> should be looking for in an operating system.  I have been a Microsoft 
> user since MS-DOS.  I am currently using Win2K pro.  What am I missing.
>  
> Bill
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