Stable and Secure
Written: Dec 31 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very stable, more secure, lots of free-ware for it, RPMs
Cons: Not for the non-computer-savvy, not a lot of games available, CD-ROM auto-mounter buggy
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| kevins10's Full Review: Red Hat Linux |
Redhat Linux 6.1 is the latest version of this excellent linux "brand". It's available in a variety of ways, you can buy it in the store for anywhere from $30 to $50 (comes with manuals), you can buy CDs of it online from $1 - $5 (without manuals) or $30 to $50 (with manuals), or you can download an iso CD image and burn a copy yourself for free. I chose the last option, since I've never found the manuals that come with the boxed version to be very useful (there are much better books on the market if you need some how-to assistance). Installation with this latest version has been improved, with everything being X-Windows based (which is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that runs on top of Linux and other Unix variants). In fact, getting Redhat 6.1 installed is a piece of cake, especially if your computer's BIOS will allow you to boot from CD-ROM. In that case you simply put the CD in the CD-ROM drive and restart the machine. A screen will greet you with instructions and you're off. If you can't boot from CD-ROM, you'll need to download images of a boot floppy (I believe one comes with the boxed version though) and a utility to make the floppy. This is still easy, just not as easy.
Highs: Very stable, the only thing I've had problems with is the CD-ROM auto-mount program locking up. Even with that happening, I had my Linux box running 28 days straight without a reboot before the auto-mounter died and required a reboot to straighten out. Linux is more secure than Windows operating systems in a lot of ways. In particular, they are much less susceptible to attacks such as Winnuke, Sping and Teardrop. There are patches available for Windows95 (Win98 is supposed to include them out of the box) but I've found they don't work on my machines. If you're not happy playing around in config files, almost everything can be modified through a GUI now. It's still a good idea to know how to modify the config files though. There is a lot of free-ware available to do just about anything you can imagine with your computer, but can be difficult to compile/install. However, Redhat created RPM to address this -- if you can find a RPM of the program you want to install, installation is as simple as typing in rpm -Uvh programname.rpm. This greatly simplifies things and is great for even those who are more technically inclined because of the time it saves.
Lows: This is not an OS that someone who's uncomfortable or scared of computers wants to have. While you can modify most everything through the GUI now, some things you either must modify in config files, or are better off modifying the config files. If you're a gamer, Linux is not the best choice right now, not many games are available for it yet. The default installation leaves a lot of remote access protocols turned on (such as Telnet and FTP) that would be better left off by default. (These leave your machine more vulnerable to attack from the outside. As mentioned above, there seems to be a bit of a bug in the CD-ROM auto-mounter program, this may or may not affect you depending on your usage habits.
Bottom Line: If you're computer-savvy and looking for an OS that is stable and secure, Redhat Linux 6.1 is sure to please. It's easy to setup and configure, and very stable. If you're not computer-savvy, are a gamer or just uncomfortable doing a lot of configuring on your system, then I would recommend either Windows 95/98 or MacOS. While I love this OS, I don't recommend it to those who would be uncomfortable with it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kevins10
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Member: Kevin Staggers
Location: Madisonville, TN
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 34 members
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