New

[Duane Attaway]

On Fri, 21 Feb 2003, John T wrote:

> I am kind of new to linux. I've used it off and on for a few years but I
> finally just gave my primary computer completely over to it. I was just
> wondering if anybody wished to share their thoughts on any software I
> should be running. I'd also be interested in knowing what distribution
> is popular amongst the group.

In my highly biased opinion, I like gentoo, because finding and dealing
with RPMs became a serious headache.  Preparing a RPM based distribution
to watch a DVD or .wmv movie file was an exercise in fustration and I
never could get it right.

With a freshly installed gentoo system, I could type "emerge mplayer" and
the mplayer program emerged would be capable of doing every kind of
playback I could get my hands on for multimedia.  The system would find 
everything it needed to build that package from mirror sites, author's web 
pages, etc., with that one command.  All I needed to do was wait and watch 
everything compile.  I like that.  And no spyware.  What more could a 
person want?

Of course, you can install RPM on gentoo ("emerge rpm") or place gentoo's
install system within redhat, or vice versa.  You can do amazingly weird
Frankenstein things with linux.

OK, I'll confess: I like having the source code in a nice tree to satisfy 
my curiosity how things work.  And I like to play with the code and muck 
with the system.  Its like watching a team of robots rebuild themselves 
from scratch.

--
"It is the duty of a patriot to protect his country from its government"
-Thomas Paine
http://dattaway.org