Matthew Rosewarne on 23 May 2007 05:59:33 -0000


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Re: [PLUG] Mother board/ Linux OS suggestions


On Wednesday 23 May 2007 00:48, Doug Crompton wrote:
> I was also looking at Kubuntu 7.04 as the OS. I have not followed the
> Linux distributions lately, so I am not sure if this is a good choice. I
> honestly have never run my current system in anything other than command
> line mode! I am comfortable not using a windowing system and I have no
> problem with continuing doing that so a linux flavor that would support
> dmraid, the core 2 duo (I guess this is an smp kernel?) and no graphics
> would be fine.
>
> I am use to the SUSE 7.3 file structure but I don't expect I would find
> anything much like that now. I really just want a late, stable linux that
> has a broad SW base. It is going to be hard enough to switch all this
> over. That is why I want to get it going BEFORE I have a failure.


While there is a server version of Ubuntu, there's very little reason to use 
it over Debian.    Ubuntu's server version is merely Ubuntu without its 
customised GUI, which is really it's only attraction. The Debian install 
process is at least as good as that of Ubuntu, and the administrative tools 
are the same.  I switched from Suse to Debian not long after I noticed a 
steady decline in the quality of the Suse distribution, and I would say I'm 
quite pleased with the results.  I was looking forward to Ubuntu when it was 
announced, but every version I have tried has suffered from serious quality & 
reliability problems, just what I was trying to escape.

Suse's file structure is somewhat odd, I always thought it put way too much 
in /opt, but I suppose it worked well enough.  Debian obsessively follows the 
FHS, which at least makes the locations of things quite predictable.  As for 
stability and breadth of available software, Debian is unmatched.  However, 
the default installation results in a _very_ minimal system, far smaller than 
Suse's most spartan install option.  Great care also devotes a great deal of 
attention to the maintenance of the distribution, including the requirement 
for all of its packages to be updated cleanly and without breaking.  I found 
Suse quite frustrating when it came to upgrading, and would always expect to 
perform a clean install for each new version, but Debian I've only ever 
installed once.

If you want some more info or help, check out the #plug channel, since a good 
number of PLUG members seem to be Debian users.  In any case, I hope all goes 
well with your upgrade.

P.S. I'm also clinging to my old machine, coming up on a decade now...

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