[thelist] Linux flavor
Andrew Forsberg
andrew at thepander.co.nz
Wed Jul 4 02:44:45 CDT 2001
>All:
>
>Looking to get a Linux machine set up but thought (knew) you all would have
>opinions on whose flavor to use. I've read good things about Mandrake and
>SuSE, and there's always Red Hat.
>
>Opinions?
Hi Jason
Probably not what you want to hear, but ... there are other *nix
alternatives. I've been exceptionally happy with Solarix x86 installs
on two successive laptops (first an IBM ThinkPad 380ED, then my new
Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600). You can download the ISO cdrom images
direct from Sun now, rather than buying the media packs. Still,
Solaris may not suit your hardware so you'd want to check the
hardware compatibility lists (HCL) at http://www.sun.com/solaris/
before downloading 2 to 6 gigs of cdrom images.
I found I preferred Solaris over other x86 unix OSes because (in no
particular order) it does USB out of the box, has all sorts of
commercial / freeware support and software, supports the Intel
EtherExpress Pro 100bT ethernet chipset, has exceptional Java
support, a particularly *unfriendly* user interface, and a cool name.
:) Some things I've never been able to get to work like decent audio
... still, I couldn't really care less about that.
One of the BSDs (freeBSD or netBSD) might be the go for you too. My
impression (probably wrong) is that Linux distributions (as opposed
to commercial *nix / BSD) tend to sacrifice:
stability;
security;
standard utilities;
network utilities;
100 bT ethernet; and
USB support
in order to concentrate on install 'friendliness' and user
interfaces. I guess linux is aiming at the MS market so it thinks it
needs to compete on these levels ... IMHO, anyone installing a *nix
system is prepared for a bit of jiggery-pokery in order to make it
work, and that this is getting a non-MS OS's priorities all wrong.
Heck, look at Apple!
Anyhow, because the above has a higher rant-to-information ratio than
even I feel is acceptable:
<tip type="Clients who want a fixed rate">
I learnt a cunning tactic from an advertising business partner today:
when a client wants a fixed rate for a contract (ie: complete this
project for exactly this amount of money) and you're working yourself
into a frenzy of worry ("Oh my god. But I have no idea what sort of
cruft I'll have to sort through / fix up!") ...
Organize a contract based on a retainer of $xK per week with an
hourly fee for work spent over and above the scope of the project
(ie, fixing up said cruft). *THEN* help the client feel all warm,
fuzzy, and comfortable by setting frequent reviews and opt-out
clauses.
Win. Win.
</tip>
--
Andrew Forsberg
---
the pander - http://thepander.co.nz/
uberNET - http://uber.net.nz/
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