28 Jun
2004
28 Jun
'04
1:05 p.m.
The distro is not as important as we all think. Much more important are
the applications and the whole environment. For example, I recreate on
every Un*x platform I work my favorite environment (shell profile, shell
aliases, window manager settings, etc). I even compile the GNU ls
(because of the colours) on every *BSD and commercial Unix I use.
In fact I use Yellow Dog Linux and MacOS X (also a real Unix) as a dual
boot solution on my iBook (Slackware is x86 only), Solaris 8 on my
SparcStation 5 and use RedHat and AIX at work. And guess what? They all
look and *feel* the same. I have installed the same tools, window
manager, applications, have the same settings and so on. I don't use the
distro's defaults.
My opinion: It may be difficult to find your optimal distro, but finding
your optimal editor or script language is far more important. As long as
you are *using* your computer instead of tweaking, upgrading and
installing all the time, the distro is not important at all.
You have extremely many choices: the base OS (*BSD, Linux), the distro,
the shell (bash, tcsh, ksh, zsh, ...), the editor (vi, emacs), the vi
derivative (nvi, vim, elvis, ...), the emacs implementation (GNU Emacs,
uemacs, xemacs, jed, ...), the graphical editor (nedit, scite, gedit,
bluefish, xvi, ...), the windowmanager (twm, fvwm, olvwm, icewm,
windowmaker, afterstep, ion, wm2, blackbox, fluxbox, openbox, ...), the
desktop environment (CDE, KDE, Gnome, xfce, ...) and so on.
For instance, here is a good page comparing the window managers:
http://xwinman.org
Simply take the first distro you can get. Even if it is not the optimal
one it will not be bad. You have to use Linux, read articles, try out
many things before you find your optimal environment.
By the way, here are my favorites:
Shell: bash, (also like tcsh)
Window Manager: icewm, (also like window maker)
File Manager (&Desktop): ROX http://rox.sourceforge.net , very speedy!
Programming Language: C
Script Language: bash, gawk
Graphical Tools: xv, xpaint, bitmap, gimp
Vector Graphical Tool: xfig
Text Processing: LaTeX (yes, still better than all the WYSIWYG)
Text Editor: nedit, (also like scite)
vi derivative: elvis
WWW Browser: mozilla, dillo (very speedy!!!)
Mail Client: mozilla
Small Database: grok
Calendar: plan
Patrick Kaell
28 Jun
28 Jun
1:58 p.m.
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excuse me?
i _fully_ disagree with your opinion.
a distro is _VERY_ important.
not every distro is the same, not every distro feels the same or has the same
"features".
i've been using over the years, all sorts of distros, and the one and only i
really feel comfortable with right now, is gentoo.
why? because it's source based, because it has IMO, the best package manager
and system of them all, because _"I"_ have the freedom to do whatever i want,
to tweak whatever i want without making my system comlain about everything or
making it unstable, because there's no need for "upgrading" to a new
version
every x-months, because there are updates availble, and those you are looking
for, and for many other reasons....
i do think, that it's important what distro you use, and that you think well
before choosing.
and, that not every distro is suitable for every user.
but that's just my opinion...
On Monday 28 June 2004 15:05, Patrick Kaell wrote:
- --
regards,
Georges Toth
5:06 p.m.
On Mon, Jun 28, 2004 at 03:05:55PM +0200, Patrick Kaell wrote:
oh thanks for the link gonna check this out :)
oh very nice, that's exactly what I was looking for, gonna give it a try !
--
Pascal Steichen
pascal.steichen(a)linux.lu
Lilux ASBL
www.lilux.lu
" Linux is like a woman, hard to understand
But very nice once you get under the hood. "
8:03 p.m.
As we have talked much about comparison matrices (in combination with
distros), there a subpage containing a matrix comparing popular window
managers:
http://xwinman.org/comparisons.html
oh very nice, that's exactly what I was looking
for, gonna give it a try !
It's nice. ROX flies on a Pentium 90, even when opening a folder with
many hundred files. It doesn't support PDF thumbnail previews like
Konqui and Nautilus, but you can preview all image files (gif, jpg,
etc.). It supports TAB completion like bash and has many small
innovations. You can use it to put shortcuts on the root window
(desktop). By combining it with a window manager you can have a
lightweight desktop environment. Everything is instaneous!
Patrick Kaell
29 Jun
29 Jun
1:23 p.m.
On Mon, Jun 28, 2004 at 10:03:37PM +0200, Patrick Kaell wrote:
Yes i'm curretnly trying it out and it really is what I was looking for : small,
fast, functional, almost complete ;) I only have to figure out the global concept, which
somehow is little different than what I was used with GNOME, but it's really nice.
About the pentium 90 issue : I'm gonna test it on my old celeron 333 laptop !
Patrick Kaell
--
Pascal Steichen
pascal.steichen(a)linux.lu
Lilux ASBL
www.lilux.lu
" Linux is like a woman, hard to understand
But very nice once you get under the hood. "
29 Jun
29 Jun
2:51 p.m.
On Mon, 2004-06-28 at 15:05, Patrick Kaell wrote:
(...)
(...)
Personally I agree with you.
I'd add that this applies especially in the first stages, when you're
migrating to Linux and experimenting with it. Though I probably
wouldn't recommend something like a Gentoo at this stage.
Once one feels familiar enough with Linux, one will probably start
experimenting with many different distros, while having "one stable
system" somewhere...
until one finds the distro one likes most for whichever (non rational)
reason
in most cases though being able to use the right tools (mailer, browser,
office suite, specific application) to do the job is more important in
the first phase.
Serge
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Serge Marelli, Luxembourg
E-mail : serge.marelli(a)linux.lu
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LiLux, Luxembourg LUG : http://www.linux.lu/
Defending Innovation against Patent Inflation http://swpat.ffii.org/
3:01 p.m.
I should add that in a later phase, when one is more familiar with
Linux, the distribution, or philosophy behind it becomes more and more
important... e.g. a distro using/accepting proprietary software vs. one
relying purely on FOSS...
Serge
On Tue, 2004-06-29 at 16:51, Serge Marelli wrote:
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Serge Marelli, Luxembourg
E-mail : serge.marelli(a)linux.lu
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LiLux, Luxembourg LUG : http://www.linux.lu/
Defending Innovation against Patent Inflation http://swpat.ffii.org/
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7 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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Georges Toth -
Pascal Steichen -
Patrick Kaell -
Serge Marelli