Gotta love that Linux!
Written: Apr 09 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fairly *easy* to install, very easy to maintain, fast and stable
Cons: Out of date stable version
The Bottom Line: Completely FREE, Fast, and stable... A bit tricky to install if you're really new, but a dream to maintain... 4 out of 5 stars!
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| BrianThomason's Full Review: Debian GNU |
Well, out of the few distributions I've used including Red Hat and Mandrake, Debian may not be the easiest, but it's definitely the best! I grabbed a copy of their latest, but outdated, stable edition on CD from cheapbytes.com for 11 bucks... You can get it free if you do the FTP install, but on 56k, forget about it!
I started out with Mandrake so the instillation process was pretty easy and straightforward for me, however, I do not recommend those of you out there who don't even know what a Kernel is to try this as your first distro - It will leave a bad taste in your mouth and give you a false impression about Linux itself!
The instillation process uses a dialog (using ncursers I believe) to aid you in instillation... However, I recommend freeing space for Linux with another utility besides the one that comes with Debian unless you REALLY know what you're doing or you have a completely bare hard disk - You can lose ALL data on the drive if not careful! (bye, bye Windows! :-) )
If you have no clue what I'm talking about this early on, get Mandrake - While not as stable or powerful, it has a pretty little graphical interface to aid the weak at heart... (like myself a few months ago)
After instillation it boots right up from a floppy or using Lilo to boot from your hard drive... Most of the time the X server doesn't install properly and you'll be stuck at the good ole console... Just run XF86Setup to get gnome up and running...
The install only installs the base system and a few other programs... This is really a good thing, giving you full control over everything you wish to install...
Next, you'll need to learn a little bit about apt-get to add some nice programs to your system... Simply run apt-setup first of all, and add a list where Debian can search for updated files - Easy and straightforward process.... Then, if you don't already understand Debian's whole apt-get function, type man apt-get and you'll be downloading anything and everything you could possibly want on your linux box in no time!
If you want a graphical package manager for gnome, just type apt-get install gnome.... Makes it much easier to brows and install files...
If you've used Red Hat or Mandrake before, then I'm sure you've loved and hated the RPM system at the same time... While making it easy to actually install the files, it doesn't mean they're going to run! Debian's package manager, dpkg works hand-in-hand with apt-get to automatically download, unpack, and not only install files, but make sure they have all their dependencies met and that they won't mess up any other files... If they will mess up other files, dpkg won't install them! (unless you force it to, which is needed in certain situations) If they have unmet dependencies, apt-get will try to go find them and install them first! It's a truly beautiful and easy way to keep your system up-to-date!
If you're one of those console freaks, Debian also comes with the old dselect program which allows you to brows the files available for apt to get...
Debian's package manager alone is enough to make it the best!
Another advantage Debian has is the fact that it is COMPLETELY OPEN SOURCE! That may not mean a whole lot to a personal user like me, but if you want to install it on a group of servers and clients, then Debian is for you! People think that all Linux packages are completely free, but in fact, many, including Red hat, come with proprietary software that doesn't allow you to install it on multiple computers and/or edit the source code...
If support is what you need support is what you get... Ever sat in a chatroom and asked a question only to wait an hour before someone finally responds? Or posted on a newsgroup and never got a response? Well, no more! Debian's official chatroom irc.openprojects.org (or maybe .com or .net, I forget) is ALWAYS booming and ready to help the newbie along! I wouldn't be typing this in Linux if it weren't for that chatroom!
The main downfall to Debian is one of its strongpoints at the same time... Se Debian stresses free, fast, and stable and they always keep that promise... So their stable, official release is always slower than everyone elses because of its extensive testing.... However, if you have a fast connected, you can easily do an apt-get upgrade and install either the testing (pretty stable) or the unstable (the latest) versions for free from the net... I'm running SID now (the unstable) with the latest Kernel 2.4.3 and it's simply incredible!
I give it 4 out of 5 stars!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
BrianThomason
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Member: Brian Thomason
Location: San Diego, CA
Reviews written: 35
Trusted by: 6 members
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