[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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