On another note, I’ve always been a big proponent of Linux, starting with Red Had in the early days (like everyone else), moving to then Mandrake, then to SuSE, then to Ubuntu, then finally, Debian. I’ve tried Gentoo and the *BSDs, Slackware, and odd distros here and there, but seem to fall back on the Debian way. While Ubuntu will always be my Distro of Choice, Debian is running a hard an close 2nd.

On another note, I’ve always been a big proponent of Linux, starting with Red Had in the early days (like everyone else), moving to then Mandrake, then to SuSE, then to Ubuntu, then finally, Debian. I’ve tried Gentoo and the *BSDs, Slackware, and odd distros here and there, but seem to fall back on the Debian way. While Ubuntu will always be my Distro of Choice, Debian is running a hard an close 2nd.

Here’s my reviews:

Mandrake pros (at the time, ~1999-2000): 1) One click install. Literally. Boot the cd and the GUI install prompts you for a “beginner” or “expert” install. Click beginner and walk away… A little while later it’s asking you for a root password, user account info, and a reboot. 2) Very little configuration to deal with. Most things “just work” right out of the box (but be careful modifying anything).

Mandrake cons: 1) One click install or complete interaction. True, the beginner install is a one-click thing, but it installs a lot of crap you don’t want. The expert install allows you to customize, but it asks you about everything. If I want to have a minimalist install but don’t know how to configure something, you’re just screwed. 2) Things break over time. OOTB it runs well, but it’s rather tweak-proof. Mess up one thing and you’ve got a dead distro.

Debian pros (at the time ~2000-2004): (see Daniel’s post)

Debian cons: 1) Install sux. Try finding an unstable distro install cd that isn’t custom tailored to someone else’s needs (and thus is missing some driver you inevetably need). 2) Old software or broken packages. There are three distros at any given time – “stable”, “testing”, and “unstable”. Stable has archaic software (but the packages won’t bork), Unstable has new software (but packages often bork). Testing is somewhat of a middle ground, but sometimes it seems that it has all the problems of both distros and none of the benefits.

Ubuntu pros: 1) Power of Debian’s apt package manager. 2) Ease of use — most things “just work” 3) Synaptic PM. It’s a GUI front-end for apt (and it’s probably been around since before Ubuntu), and it’s awesome.

Ubuntu Cons: 1) Installer. Don’t get me wrong — It’s good, but it’s missing one key element. It installs it’s own set of packages and doesn’t really care what you want. 2) Ubutu comes in 3 flavors: Ubuntu (Gnome Desktop) Kubuntu (KDE desktop) and Xubuntu (xfe desktop). Fairly nice, but they’re on 3 different install disks. 3) Some features are hidden (at least on the GUI) to “improve user friendliness” — which is a minor annoyance to those of us who wish to embrace these nice gui components that write .conf files for you.

Here’s my reviews:

Mandrake pros (at the time, ~1999-2000): 1) One click install. Literally. Boot the cd and the GUI install prompts you for a “beginner” or “expert” install. Click beginner and walk away… A little while later it’s asking you for a root password, user account info, and a reboot. 2) Very little configuration to deal with. Most things “just work” right out of the box (but be careful modifying anything).

Mandrake cons: 1) One click install or complete interaction. True, the beginner install is a one-click thing, but it installs a lot of crap you don’t want. The expert install allows you to customize, but it asks you about everything. If I want to have a minimalist install but don’t know how to configure something, you’re just screwed. 2) Things break over time. OOTB it runs well, but it’s rather tweak-proof. Mess up one thing and you’ve got a dead distro.

Debian pros (at the time ~2000-2004): (see Daniel’s post)

Debian cons: 1) Install sux. Try finding an unstable distro install cd that isn’t custom tailored to someone else’s needs (and thus is missing some driver you inevetably need). 2) Old software or broken packages. There are three distros at any given time – “stable”, “testing”, and “unstable”. Stable has archaic software (but the packages won’t bork), Unstable has new software (but packages often bork). Testing is somewhat of a middle ground, but sometimes it seems that it has all the problems of both distros and none of the benefits.

Ubuntu pros: 1) Power of Debian’s apt package manager. 2) Ease of use — most things “just work” 3) Synaptic PM. It’s a GUI front-end for apt (and it’s probably been around since before Ubuntu), and it’s awesome.

Ubuntu Cons: 1) Installer. Don’t get me wrong — It’s good, but it’s missing one key element. It installs it’s own set of packages and doesn’t really care what you want. 2) Ubutu comes in 3 flavors: Ubuntu (Gnome Desktop) Kubuntu (KDE desktop) and Xubuntu (xfe desktop). Fairly nice, but they’re on 3 different install disks. 3) Some features are hidden (at least on the GUI) to “improve user friendliness” — which is a minor annoyance to those of us who wish to embrace these nice gui components that write .conf files for you.