Re: [vox-tech] What's in RedHat 8.0

[Matt Roper <matt@MAPSmattrope.com>]

On Fri, Oct 04, 2002 at 12:14:11PM -0700, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
...
> anyway, i didn't come from a microsoft background, but this guy is.  i
> think dropping him into deep water to begin with would just be
> discouraging, especially if he doesn't have a skillset yet.  he'll have
> to bite, claw, scratch and spend an unbelievable amount of time for
> every little problem.
> 
> let him enjoy linux first.  it's not as if redhat makes things brain
> dead.   after a while, he'll begin to get curious to learn more and will
> hear people talk about debian.  if he wants to move on, he will.  and if
> not, so be it.
...

Just out of curiosity, what aspects of running a Debian system do you
consider to be 'harder' than running a Redhat or similar system?  I ask
because I've personally had more success converting people to Linux when
I show them Debian than when I show them distributions like Redhat or
Mandrake.  I think Debian's strict packaging policies are a big win as
far as "easiness" goes because it only takes one or two package
dependency problems to scare away a potential Linux user; under Debian,
these problems are almost non-existent.

I think the 'scariest' part of Debian is the installation, simply
because it asks more questions than some of the other distributions.
However, I don't think an installation program can ever be completely
"easy to use" for a non-geek.  Some tasks, such as deciding on how to
partition the hard drive, can't be avoided and do require some technical
knowledge.  Even with all the questions that Debian asks at
installation, I'm not sure that a potential Linux user will find it any
more difficult than a Redhat or similar system...


Matt

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