Re: linux

["Robert G. Brown" <bob@xxxxxxx>]

>>>>Red Hat appears to come with a broader selection of software; 4.2 and 5.0
>>>>ship as 2 CDROMS, 5.1 ships as 3. SUSE ships as FOUR, with a full install
>>>> taking up to 9 Gb!
>woah! ....i just hope that's stuff that normally you wouldn't need.

We're really talking about two things here. First, the Linux kernel and 
associated libraries are works of a relatively small number of people, maybe
about 15 in all (although HUNDREDS of testers and bit contributors add to this
mix, and anyone can join). This body of software is about 20-35 megabytes, 
depending on how it's compiled. This varies some between distributions, but
the commonality of code here is fairly high.

What we're talking about when we refer to a DISTRIBUTION is the Linux OS itself
AND sets of utilities and applications. Here is the distributor has much more
control over what's being shipped, and can offer anything they can obtain from 
the net or other sources (including commercial software). Distributors are 
highly motivated to make commonly used software part of the distribution, and 
larger distributions save you search and download time since it's all right in 
the box.  No one really expect you to use ALL of SUSE, for example, but the
economics of CDROMS allows for cheap delivery of lots of stuff, and chances 
are that it might save me (even more) time than another distribution....

>and i remember a long time running slackware with kernel 1.2.3, i had a 250
>meg partition with only like a 50-65mb install, but that was like before it
>had ELF support. but now, 2gb for slackware is about right for most people,
>heck now i wouldn't reccomend linux on less then a gig..
Right now, I'm running with a shade over 300 MB of installed software from 
my CDROM... I've got about another 150 Mb of more recent downloaded stuff.
and maybe 20 Mb of software written by yours truly, or friends.  Then there's
about 550 Mb of DATA...
It's about everything I can do to keep my 4.5 Gb drive populated only about
a quarter full....

>i know this might seem like a stupid question, but is redhat any harder to
>use? 
Except for configuration and packaging issues, there's really no difference
in the USE of any application under any version of Linux.  I'm sure an 
expert could tell, but I'm fairly durned tootin' sure the answer to your 
question is a resounding NO.

>i heard one person on irc say that slackware is for idiots, maybe he's
>just stupid or didn't know what he was talking about.
Odd Statement, difficult to see how this can be backed up with reason, but
then again I sometimes develop these odd expectations about people....

>i also heard NASA uses debian, so well you'd think it'd be halfway decent 
>if they did.
NASA isn't a monolithic organization.  There's no NASA edict that says 
"use Debian", or even "Use Linux" or "Don't use Linux". Think of NASA as
a whole cloud of laboratories, where researchers are trying to solve some
problems and get with their work. Numerous versions and distributions of
Linux can be found all over NASA, as various people make their own choices.
I know (or know of) projects within NASA that use Red Hat, Debian, and Slack-
ware, but it would surprise me at all to find SUSE, Stampede, Caldera, or
customized hacks in other places.

>i dunno, i think one of the reasons people don't use linux is just because
>they don't know how to use it, or unfortunatly how to get it installed, well
>slackware anyway. some people don't even know where to get it, but since
>redhat is out in stores that makes it alot easier.
Installation and packaging has historically (IMO) been one of the real
weaknesses of Linux, but distributors (surely RH and SUSE, but others I'm
sure) are addressing this. Since i started to use Linux I beleive great 
strides have been made in this area.

>most linux books i really don't like, the thing that annoys me the most,
>those linux books that are nothing but faq's and howto's from the net! but
>the thing is, is that they charge like 50 bucks...
Someone out there... please recommend a book to this man that's less than 
$25 and is a decent one... 

Matt! Chris! Please fill in the details (author and price, maybe a one-sentence 
review) of "The No BS Guide to Linux"....

                                                         Sorry, gotta go...
                                                            ---> RGB <---