Good points. I've installed several of the major distros. When I was teaching in Duluth I had a lab with 10 systems and 4 different distros. (I had wanted to use 5 but couldn't get one, Debian or Slack, to configure with the antique VLB cards and monitors we had.) For my own use I've settled into using SuSE but have used Caldera, Debian, and a couple of the small obscure ones on a test system just to see what they are like. The analogy to the PC Hardware market is a good one. It extends somewhat to cars as well. We all develop a "brand loyalty" for different reasons. My reason for using SuSE is I like YAST a lot. I know other people who just hate it. I think the discussions about distros and why we choose the ones we do are a service to new members of the community that are trying to decide which distro to install. I usually suggest to people in that position that they order one of the "variety packs" from LSL or LinuxCentral and try them all to see which one "fits" best. My .02 (or a little more :-) Jack On Thu, 28 September 2000, Adam Maloney wrote: > > I don't know that this is a problem. Think of Linux as the computer > system industry (Compaq, Dell, Gateway, etc). All the seasoned geeks have > an opinion, some will tell you that this name-brand is good, others will > tell you something different. Did that hinder the PC market? > > I'm glad that there are different distributions. With a free product they > can't compete on price, so they have to compete on the things that matter, > like UI, features, functionality, etc. Having one "best" distribution > would be good at first, but after slack, deb, redhat, etc are all gone > then the maintainers of "Good Linux" lose a lot of their motivation. > > Look at Windows, obviously having only one "distribution" of windows has > hindered Microsoft's motivation to make it outstanding to compete with > someone else's version of Windows. Imagine if another company offered a > version of Windows (think - OS/2 but Win32 compatible) besides Microsoft. > Maybe Big-Bill would have a reason to make Windows better, rather than > just more expensive. > > Adam Maloney > Systems Administrator > Sihope Communications > > On Thu, 28 Sep 2000, Nick B wrote: > > > Everyone has their own opinion of what distro is better. I think for Linux > > to suceed, Redhat or not, Linux users (Debian included!) shouldn't flame on > > Redhat or other companies just because they don't like them. I havn't made a > > post yet that suggests I hate Debian or some other distribution. > > What I see happening in the near future is the fact that you have all > > these distros, but there isnt one GREAT distro of all. You have tons of > > satisfied people with Redhat, Debian, Mandrake, Slackware, and more. the > > problem is, is that Linux isnt going to take off because you have other Linux > > users complaining about the fact that one distro has problems and that they > > should use a better one (The one the complainer is using). So... what you have > > in the long run is the fact that no one can make up their damned minds which > > one will be the one to take off. > > So, what do you guys think is the solution? > > > > --Nick Betcher > > > > P.S.) Dont say I flame because this isnt a flame, nor have I flamed in the > > past. I just try to make people face the inevitable. Have fun with this! > > > > andy at theasis.com wrote: > > > > > > All personal advocacy aside, we need to remember that TCLUG is the > > > > Twin Cities Linux Users' Group. As such, we have members from all > > > > corners of the distribution world. Unless you roll-you-own, you're > > > > probably using one distribution or another. Given that observation, > > > > we should commit ourselves to quelling the typical distribution-specif > > > > advocacy we would normally see on comp.os.linux.<dist>.advocacy. By > > > > typical, I do not mean advocacy in the manner laid out by official > > > > distribution policy or constitution, but advocacy that you see from > > > > the everyday, average distribution enthusiast. > > > > > > Advocacy is informative, if that's actually what you're doing -- i.e., > > > pointing out some of the strengths of a particular distribution. This even > > > entails a comparative approach. That's fine as long as it sticks to > > > *technical* points of distinction. Such discussions are educational to new > > > users, as well as useful to more seasoned users when switching > > > distributions could be potentially very costly (in terms of time, which > > > _is_ money after all). > > > > > > But the benefit of such discussions is completely nullified if it turns > > > from advocacy to eulogizing or vituperation, which then turns into rancor. > > > This is merely my opinion, of course. > > > > > > In short, flamewars are often enough sparked by flamebait and most of us > > > are capable of recognizing when we're producing that, or not reacting to > > > it in the most positive fashion. > > > > > > > Committing the TCLUG environment to this tenant wouldn't be too > > > > difficult, and it may promote a more constructive forum on the list... > > > > > > I'm all for that. > > > > > > > I'm not trying to change any personal philosophies here; just trying > > > > to pour a little oil on our apparently troubled waters. > > > > > > IMO, once again, it all comes down to whether each person is inclined > > > towards a default policy of treating respectfully the other members of the > > > community. > > > > > > Andy > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org > > > For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org > > For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org > For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org Jack Ungerleider - The Ungerleider Group Creative Solutions for Cooperative Computing jack at jacku.com www.jacku.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org