__/ [Blinky the Shark] on Sunday 08 January 2006 08:05 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> __/ [Blinky the Shark] on Saturday 07 January 2006 19:08 \__
>>
>>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>>
>>>> PS - Blinky, I see that you settled on "Mandriva 2006.0 Linux; kernel
>>>> 2.6.12". Glad you got it working eventually.
>>>
>>> Thanks. I'm also running SuSE 10.0, but Mandriva is here, on my
>>> primary box.
>>
>> What do you think of SuSE? That Linux distro 'quiz'[1] recommended that
>> I use Mandriva when I took the test a couple of days ago.
>
> I don't have a huge impression, yet. The install required less user
> input; but that's because there was no chance to customize it.
True. You can always go back to YaST and install whatever you fancy. By
default, plenty of the basic 'stuff' gets installed. SuSE is trying not to
confuse the amateur user and be the least verbose. it's a positive thing.
Ubuntu is even worse/better (i.e. quiet, depends on one's preferences).
> Other than
> that, I've been getting used to files being in different places and stuff
> like that, and learning my way around the YaST equivalent of Mandriva's
> Mandrake Control Center, both of which are kind of like Win's Control
> Panel.
True, but there is also the issue of adaptation and orientation. The menus
are logically build, somewhat hierarchically. That kind of computer
'taxonomy' is rather innate, so it is not a matter of emulating or imitating
Control Panel by any means. In fact, Windows probably copied these from the
Mac. Most of the look-and-feel is argued to be so.
Locations of files are canonical. A quick Web search could immediately
provide the 'bridge' and knowing the variants of common paths is a valued
skill (see more below).
> And loading software, of course. I have mail and news clients set
> up and running -- that was just fiddly work, as they're the same ones I
> use here in Mandrake. All that said, it looks fine and the only reason I
> favor Mandrake is because I've been using it for a few years and I'd never
> seen SuSE until last week or so. Had it been the other way around, I'd be
> more comfortable with SuSE. I've also been playing with a live CD of
> Knoppix, and a couple days ago I got a copy of Kubuntu (live/install, take
> your pick), which I'd ordered along with the new Open Office 2.0.0.
Knowing many distribution is a useful exercise. It does not take more than a
few days to get a 'taste' of each. As you are dealing with various KDE-based
distributions, the difference is probably minor for most things.
> As for your test results, Mandriva is considered about the most
> Linux-newbie friendly (it had that distinction as Mandrake, before the
> merver with Connectiva last year). And that's why *I* started with it,
> when I moved. I kept Windows for about a year, in a dual-boot situation
> next to Mandrake: both OS's on the same HDD and at boot the the option of
> loading either one. And since Linux understands MS file systems (not that
> MS lets Windows understand Linux <g>), I could bring data from Win over to
> Linux while in Linux, which was good for the conversion stage moving to
> Linux.
>
>> [1] http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/
>
> The test results for me: Mandriva, SuSE and Open SuSe, in that order. :)
If you ever wish to move files from Linux to Windows, you can do that rather
easily. I was in that very same situation a year ago, before all computers
and partitions turned Linux (ReiserFS).
http://p-nand-q.com/download/rfstool.html
http://yareg.akucom.de/index.html#DOWNLOAD (.NET GUI to the above)
These can make your life a lot easier if you cannot afford to strip Windows
off one partition, but still wish to use its available disk space.
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | "These characters were randomly picked"
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
4:35pm up 28 days 23:46, 14 users, load average: 0.68, 1.01, 0.88
http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms
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