[Leaplist] Fedora 9 impressions so far...

[Dan Cherry]

On Thursday 22 May 2008 6:13:14 am Fred Moore wrote:
<snip>
> Bryan.. good comments earlier..
>
> Somehow I still don't think some people get it.  Linux is Linux is Linux
> is Linux.  Its not the installer, it not the package manager, its not
> the distro (default application installed).  I like the apt package
> manager so I do debian based stuff, I don't have anything against rpm
> based stuff.  But its all Linux and it all works if you know Linux.  I
> have spent more time in my life fixing things that should not have been
> broken in Windows (after they were already working), then in all of the
> time I spent learning Linux.  I mean so what if config files are in a
> different subdirectory, or some scripts work differently.. its still
> Linux..
>
<snip>
> Fred

Completely true...  Linux is Linux - 
But I think some distro hoppers are not looking for a better 'linux', but are 
searching for a set of admin tools that fits their environment, and how they 
work, a little better.  

For example, the drak tools that come with PCLinuxOS, will almost completely 
eliminate the need for CLI, but just try to script something, and it'll drive 
you nutz finding the config files (assuming you're used to Debian or another 
distro).  Not better, not worse, just a matter of what suits you.

A couple years ago, K/Ubuntu seemed to have a better installer than debian, 
but everything from K/Ubuntu was so locked down in the name of security, that 
you had to fight a battle for justabout anything you wanted to share between 
two computers!  If sharing wasn't your thing, then it was great.

After running Debian, Kubuntu and Knoppix for years, I took a stab at Fedora 
last year, just to see what the tool set was like.  Couldn't get it to 
install without some config digging, and lo' and behold, very few of the 
config files were where I expected them to be (from a Debian perspective) - 
so, like Fred says, persuing that would have been a huge waste of time, since 
even if I succeeded, I was still going to be running 'Linux'!  Chalk that up 
to an hour of curiosity, and move on.

I only mentioned 'admin tools', because unlike most applications, they are 
specific to the distro they come with, and can make a big difference in your 
Linux experience, depending on how much (or more important, how little) Linux 
background you have.  

Bryan & Fred said it well - find one that works pretty well, and learn it!  If 
you hop, don't hop too far...
-- 
Dan
Finding a solution to a problem doesn't solve the problem...
Implementing the solution, solves the problem