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Bob Blick wrote (but <i>swears</i> he didn't want to start a religious
fight - sure <smiley>):
<blockquote cite="mid:473356.95616.qm@web83720.mail.sp1.yahoo.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap=""><!----> For instance, other than
the obvious package manager differences that everyone
talks about, I don't know where Redhat differs from
other distros with regard to startup scripts, devices,
networking, etc. I haven't used it in many years, it's
changed. And I'm most interested in what's happening
under the hood, not what choice of applets the toolbar
comes populated with.
</pre>
</blockquote>
I should have mentioned this in my earlier response, but where those
little scripties are to be found, and their syntax, seems to be a big
difference between distros, in my mind.<br>
<br>
When I first started using Linux... why it seems like just yesterday...
<br>
<br>
<cue wavy-line fade to a crowded room at SSU - an Installfest! Dave
has brought his laptop and a wifi problem. Mark Street and Paul
Stagnoli are knocking their heads together trying to figure out how to
get Dave's thinkpad on the local wifi network... the big fro-like hair
and the disco clothes give the viewer a hint as to the year - 1978!
(just kidding, but not about Mark and Paul - I still remember that!
Thanks again, guys!)><br>
<br>
Anyway, the point of that silliness is that when I started, networking
was really a dark magic to me and I could barely figure out what to
do. I slowly gained some knowledge and spell points, but stuck with
Redhat/Fedora because I knew where the scripts went
(/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg*). Other distros put them in the
weirdest places (yeah, I'm talking about you, Slackware!). It's easier
to 'get stuff done' when you know where everything is intuitively. <br>
<br>
Startup scripts are another one. Redhat/Fedora/CentOS/etc. allow you
to go 'service httpd restart' to restart apache. I actually know that
the RH/Fedora command is just an alias for the 'real' one that the
other distros use ('/etc/init.d/httpd restart').<br>
<br>
In my experience I really don't think there's any real difference
between the major distros, other than (what I consider) small
philosophical differences (how 'free' does software need to be in order
to be included). Whatever packages are included (you mentioned Beagle)
don't really matter, because I now know how to add & remove
packages pretty easily - and if something's not in my distro's
repository, I can usually find a packaged file (rpm for me, deb for
some others). I can even compile from source. <br>
<br>
I think newbies should just pick a distro and a desktop manager (window
manager? - I mean gnome, kde or other) and get used to them for a bit
and try another. If that doesn't feel right, go back to the first
choice. Choices are good, but often the differences are very small.
Just jump in!<br>
<br>
-dave.<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Dave Sisley
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:dsisley@sonic.net">dsisley@sonic.net</a>
roth-sisley.net
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