which distros suppport smp?

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~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~
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which distros suppport smp?

Post by ~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~ »

system: abit bp6 w/dual celerons (either 366s overclocked, 466s not oced)
award bios
132 MB RAM
ATI Rage IIC 8MB
dual IBM Deskstar 13.6GB ATA/66 HDD
NEC 3002-A ATAPI CD-Rom
3.5" A: FDD
ISA SoundBlaster Model: CT4170
Conexant Controllerless PCI v.90

have spent a few hours reading reviews and forums re: linux/xandros

now i am seeing that xandros (the new kernel) 3.0 is focused more for laptops and does not support smp.
someone has put up an unsupported smp kernel, but
what is to be done (which distros supports smp) when we are wanting to run linux on a dually like a bp6?.

thx, ~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~
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Post by Dave Rave »

the redhat 7/8/9/fedora
most linux in the 2.4/2.5/2.6 i guess would

me, i'm not partial to it, as i don't comprehend the setup layout update install much but the basic desktop looks good
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Post by purrkur »

Any and all distros support SMP. SMP is enabled by a switch in the kernel and that's it. It has nothing to do with the distro really.
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switch in the kernel

Post by ~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~ »

that explains how an insider could, without too much trouble,
offer a modified distro of xandros that supports smp, even though,
out of the box, it will only use 1 cpu.

seems like xandros would be offered out of the box with
a question in the install asking:
"does your computer have 2 cpus? Yes No."

instead the claim is smp compatibility could/would risk sales to
laptop owners, even to the extent,
they completely turn off the smp capability.

huh?

i really want to run xandros on a bp6.
i could, for starters, check it out with its 1 cpu limitation.
see how it works, then
try the unsupported version that runs on both cpus.

hope it is not more than it bargained for.

then where did i see: "no problem, can't be that difficult"

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Post by purrkur »

Xandros is Debian based. Usually they will boot you up with a kernel that is not smp. Once you got your setup up and running, getting an smp kernel is a single command (apt-get install kernel-2.6.9-smp or something like that) and then a reboot. That's it.
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smp in xos

Post by ~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~ »

8) that is more detail than anyone offered over at the xos site.
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Post by hugoc »

I tried Xandros on my BP6 and I didn't like it. It's quite bloated and slow, kinda like Mandrake. With Xandros and KDE it's probably going to be unsatisfying compared to Windows, you'll either need a faster distro or a different window manager. On slow systems like ours, I'd recommend you go with a distro that's more tweaked for speed, like Gentoo, or if you're not that technical, Ubuntu or Yoper.
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Post by purrkur »

hugoc wrote:I tried Xandros on my BP6 and I didn't like it. It's quite bloated and slow, kinda like Mandrake.
I tried the 2.0 release and found that some of the things they had done was to take the "safe" route on tweaking which usually means that you get worse performance, but you get a better chance at a stable system.

Slackware is also billed as being one of the fastest distro's. Debian, is also peppy and that is what I run on my two BP6's.
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Post by ~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~ »

:o
do i need to do a retake re: a choice to step into linux?
{remember - noob here at both bp6 and linux}

good thread going hugoc & purrkur, by the way:

what i read on the last two replies, include:
* bloated
* slow
* "better chance" of a stable system
* trade off between performance and stability

i thought going to linux was a move away from these issues :?:

i am undeterred, but maybe the honeymoon is ending before i
get to the church, so to speak.

still pursuing the 2 major motives for going to linux:
* security from hackers and viruses and worms and ?????
* cost of putting a package like xp on 3 or 4 systems
(my understanding that is cost X 3 or 4)

am getting within days of having all the pieces to install xandros
on a bp6 (366 X 2@366, initially, then @550) clean box, and
on a nobebook centrino 1.4 already running xp.
(went with the xandros distro because of all the hype about 1st time
users switching over easily from windows, plus a knowledgeable friend speaks well of xandros)

my main uses will be mozilla browsing and email (am engaged in research
activities) over copper wires on a dialup account (broadband not available
out here in the woods). will also be word processing (openoffice & maybe msoffice 2000), spreadsheeting and some frontpage web development --
no gaming, midi or graphics intensive stuff other than what is needed in the browsing and web development.

any further comments appreciated about bp6 366X2 and linux/xandros?

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Post by hugoc »

Slackware is also billed as being one of the fastest distro's. Debian, is also peppy and that is what I run on my two BP6's.
I don't think either neat Slack or Debian is good for a newbie. If you want Slackware, try Vector Linux, if you want Debian, try Ubuntu, if you want Gentoo, try VidaLinux. They are all reworks of the "base" distros and are more user-friendly.
i thought going to linux was a move away from these issues
Well, here's the thing. With Windows, you have to take what Bill Gates says you want. Linux, OTOH, has many different distros with many different focuses. Mandrake and Xandros try to give you the whole kitchen sink and, as a result, are bloated, will stuff your hard-drive with redundant programs and eat your RAM with unnecessary daemons and suchlike. If you have tons of hard-drive space and RAM, that's not a problem, of course!

You also have your choice of window managers. KDE with all the eye candy turned on is beautiful and has more functionality than Explorer on Windows, and on up-to-date hardware it is fast. However, on older hardware such as a BP6, it will drag its feet, so you will either need to disable some of the eye candy or pick a less demanding window manager. But there's always choices open to you. With Windows, if you don't like it, that's too bad.

Regarding stability, as with Windows it depends upon your hardware. If your hardware is at all suspect Linux won't save you from crashes. However, Linux drivers tend to be better written and more stable than Windows ones, so on good hardware Linux will be rock-solid. I had ongoing driver issues with Win2K and XP that caused STOP errors about 4 times a day, on average. On Linux, everything runs perfectly.

If you want mission-critical stability, then you can't run the latest software, because it's still in a "testing" stage. Most people who run Debian run the "unstable" release because despite the name it's not a problem, however, if you have a role where even the chance of a crash is unacceptable (say you're running a server for the New York Stock Exchange) you would run Debian Stable.

Don't let purrkur's talk of (in)stability put you off. When Linux users talk of instability, they mean that you might have to reboot in 6 months. :) They might occasionally forget than in Windows, instability means a few reboots per day and lost data. The trade-off between performance and stability is true of all OSes, the latest drivers will be more tweaked but will have had less time spent in bugfixing. If you worry about stability, use older drivers that have been tried and tested, and use a very tried-and-true filesystem like ext3 instead of a faster but newer one like Reiser.

But you have exactly the same trade-offs in Windows - latest graphics drivers versus MS-certified ones, slower and more reliable NTFS over faster, insecure and non-journaling FAT32, and so on. It's my belief that Linux suffers these problems less, though.
* security from hackers and viruses and worms and ?????
Linux is very secure and has no viruses or worms. There have been claims put about of Linux viruses and worms but they are purely FUD. Don't forget that you won't have to defragment anymore, either.
* cost of putting a package like xp on 3 or 4 systems
Depends what value you put on your time. There is a learning curve.
i am undeterred, but maybe the honeymoon is ending before i
get to the church, so to speak.
Linux is not suited to everyone. However, I will say that I myself deleted all MS software from my system a while ago and went full-time Linux, and I have absolutely no regrets. YMMV.
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Post by purrkur »

thumbs up Hugoc :D I couldn't have said it better myself!

Just a small pointer, Xandros is based on Debian as well and I must say that I am impressed with Xandros and I do recommend it to people. As for performance, hey, I spend tons of time getting XP to work properly after a default installation. Windows does exactly the same thing as Xandros does. You don't want to tweak anything because poor drivers or unstable systems might break stuff.
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Post by ~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~ »

hey guys,

hugoc & purrkur,
thanks for all the clues here.

sounds like i can cut back on the eye candy, until
performance is acceptable, thus
finding my own balance.
intially staying with the tried and true older drivers & file systems.

it helps so much knowing what to expect
from ones like ya'll, who have BTDT.

if i end up with a more stable and
more hacker/virus free system and
one more in sink with open source life, as opposed to
corporate mandated living,
then the learning curve will be well worth it.

i'll start with a clean box, single boot on my bp6, then
i have the options:
next dual boot xos on a toshiba centrino 1.4 laptop, or
install a windows enviro (98 which i have, or xp) on the bp6 on a 2nd hd
(after switching the xos hd to slave).

am going to try to keep xos deluxe 3 as a single boot on the bp6.
then, INSTEAD of adding ANY win os, look into dual booting
another speedier linux distro, looking into a choice among:
Vector Linux,
Ubuntu, and
VidaLinux.
just based on the name, am mighty partial to Ubuntu.
i will have to get beyond that though to make a choice.

thanks again,
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Post by purrkur »

~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~ wrote: if i end up with a more stable and
more hacker/virus free system and
one more in sink with open source life, as opposed to
corporate mandated living,
then the learning curve will be well worth it.
I can allready tell you that you will end up with a more stable system that is virus free. In terms of hacking, if the box is connected to the internet without a firewall inbetween then just make sure that you shut down all ports and you'll be fine. If you decide to run some sort of service like SSH then choose another port than the standard one.

I can tell you that I run Debian on my BP6 and I use the KDE desktop almost exclusively. I have turned off some of the unnecessary eye-candy and it runs just fine. Make sure that you have something like 384 megs of memory (or more) and you will be fine with either Gnome or KDE. The startup times won't be stellar, but once it is up and running you won't have much of a problem.
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Post by hugoc »

Vector Linux,
Ubuntu, and
VidaLinux.
just based on the name, am mighty partial to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is very good and has lots of community backing too. Not only do they have their own forums which are really good, Ubuntu basically is Debian, which is one of the oldest and best-supported distros in existence.

Bear in mind too that many distros are desktop-environment-centric. Ubuntu and Vida focus on Gnome and virtually ignore KDE. Mepis is a Debian-based distro that focuses on KDE and ignores Gnome. Vector used to use lightweight window managers but I think they've gone over to KDE now too.

As to which you prefer, my advice would be to go with a distro that is relatively indifferent (e.g. Mandrake or Fedora Core) and try them both. It's hard to say which you'll prefer ahead of time. Myself, I used KDE for about a month, got used to it and then switched to Gnome on Ubuntu just to try it out, and so far I think I like Gnome better. It suits my preferences more and if I hadn't tried it I'd never have known, although it's purely subjective and I don't doubt that KDE suits Purrkur's working habits better than Gnome would. It sounds like you are trying Linux because you want to learn about operating systems and try something new, so I'd say give everything you can a fair try.
I can tell you that I run Debian on my BP6 and I use the KDE desktop almost exclusively. I have turned off some of the unnecessary eye-candy and it runs just fine.
Both KDE and Gnome have run on my BP6 and been at least as responsive as Windows XP was. I think the problem with many distros is not the windowmanager but the whole load of programs and daemons that distros like Mandrake load by default, which slow the whole thing down. A nicely set up distro will be smooth on the BP6 with any window manager.
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Post by Billl »

What would be nice if one of you Linux guys would write a short getting started thread for all us Windows users. I downloaded Debian (Sarge) and it's on 15 cd's. My biggest questions are:

1) Will this new version even run on a BP6 class hardware?

2) Can someone walk us through a typical install?

3) What are the critcal tweaks and gotcha's that will trip up a newbie?

4) How the hell do you decide on a Distibution anyway?

I think it's fair to say that in some ways there is too much choice. At least for us that have lived in the Windows world most of our computing lives. And I'm sure I've only touched on the questions that go through a lot of our minds here. So it would be nice if maybe we could get something started here on an on going basis. I know for me at least one of the biggest problems in even trying to convert is, ok now what do I do situations. Be nice if we had somewhere to ask those questions.


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Post by hugoc »

I downloaded Debian (Sarge) and it's on 15 cd's.
You probably didn't need to do that. I imagine you'll only use 10% of that software. The full package has all sorts of server-related stuff and tons of source code for everything. You're supposed to pick and choose what you need.
1) Will this new version even run on a BP6 class hardware?
Yep. In my experience, a system will run a modern distro with either Gnome or KDE with about the same responsiveness as it runs Windows XP. Obviously it depends on how you tune it, YMMV. But there's no reason why you can't run a modern Linux distro with all the features and eye candy on a BP6. I do.
2) Can someone walk us through a typical install? 3) What are the critcal tweaks and gotcha's that will trip up a newbie?
Are you sure you wouldn't be better off with a more friendly distro? I'd suggest Ubuntu or Mepis. They're both based on Debian (i.e. they are Debian), Ubuntu uses Gnome, Mepis uses KDE and both are much easier for beginners.
4) How the hell do you decide on a Distibution anyway?
Kinda the same way you decide on a car. You assess your needs and requirements and mix in a bit of personal preference and prejudice, read some reviews, talk to your friends and then make your decision.
I think it's fair to say that in some ways there is too much choice. At least for us that have lived in the Windows world most of our computing lives.
Bah! I don't think there can be such a thing as too much choice, only too little. If you don't want to have to make choices, just install Suse, Mandrake or Fedora Core and leave everything at the default settings. It'll work.
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Post by purrkur »

Billl: Sorry for not tuning in sooner. I have been so busy that work will finally kill me if I don't get a break soon.

Hugoc: Thanks for picking up the thread. I got some interesting points that you might also be interested in.
hugoc wrote:Myself, I used KDE for about a month, got used to it and then switched to Gnome on Ubuntu just to try it out, and so far I think I like Gnome better. It suits my preferences more and if I hadn't tried it I'd never have known, although it's purely subjective and I don't doubt that KDE suits Purrkur's working habits better than Gnome would.
Yeah, I am a long time KDE user but I keep an up to date copy of Gnome on my BP6 and I start it up every now and then to see what they are up to. It is also a very nice desktop environment and the next version coming up will include some technical enhancements that will be killer for the desktop. I never get into the KDE vs Gnome arguments because I simply love the fact that I have a choice. Windows user don't and neither do Mac users. With Linux you can change window managers or desktop systems as often as you change your underwear if you like. Some see that as a disadvantage but that is only because they are used to being told my Microsoft what to use, how to do things and when to do things. They get confused because they feel like they need to know every single GUI environment as well as they know their Windows stuff.

We have discussed fatware here a lot and how it affects the feel of running an advanced desktop environment on your BP6 but I can tell you that KDE for example are working very hard at lowering their total footprint and memory consumption. They are doing a good job because version 3.3.x is much faster and sleeker than older versions. There will be one more 3.x major release soon (3.4) and after that they will go for KDE 4.0 that will be based on a new windowing GUI that is said to be up to 25-30% faster than what we have today. So don't count your BP6's out just yet as a desktop! The bad thing about 4.0 is that it won't be compatible with 3.4 (the GUI code that is).

I would argue that KDE is snappier than XP on slow hardware. It takes longer to load but once it is loaded you don't get these pauses where nothing at all seems to be happening like you get in XP when you load the system a bit. I got one XP machine at work and another running KDE. They are both about as fast (actually the Linux box is 50MHz slower) but I will work on the Linux box unless something OS specific forces me to use XP.
billl wrote: What would be nice if one of you Linux guys would write a short getting started thread for all us Windows users. I downloaded Debian (Sarge) and it's on 15 cd's.
OK, what you have just downloaded will work just fine on BP6 but it is also pretty ancient and I wouldn't use it for anything other than server work (where stability and dependebility was king). There is a new major version in the works from the Debian folks and it will be released soon. The good thing about this new release is that they will bring out a new installer that will detect hardware and set up your machine for you. I have used betas of this installer and it is both simple and easy and understandable. The downside is that the interface is ugly but for me that doesn't matter. I don't need to look at high-res pics while loading an OS.

billl wrote:Can someone walk us through a typical install?
If I only had more time!!!!!!! Billl, let me put it this way: I will be loading both my machines up with Debian sometime in the near future and what I thought about doing was to document a step by step guide on how to install the new Debian release on BP6. I am still waiting for them to release the final thing though before I do it so my work won't be based on a beta (although in most terms it doesn't matter). What I can do is a step by step process on how to get a minimalist installation of Debian running and how to add things to set up the desktop (and that will be done through an internet connection and not CD's), web server and so on. So if you can wait a bit longer then I will end up posting something of the sort.

I have helped a few friends get Debian up and running and they are now all sold on it :) I have also helped a few BP6:ers that have contacted me through this site when they were having problems. I have actually worked on other peoples Linux installations on their BP6's and helped them fix things.
hugoc wrote:Are you sure you wouldn't be better off with a more friendly distro? I'd suggest Ubuntu or Mepis. They're both based on Debian (i.e. they are Debian), Ubuntu uses Gnome, Mepis uses KDE and both are much easier for beginners.
See the above. The new Debian installer is easy. What the Debian project has been trying to do now for some time is to learn from user friendly projects that are knock-offs from Debian itself. Also, the installer used in Ubuntu is actually the new Debian installer (OSS, gotta love it). If you can install Ubuntu then you can install Debian.

Let me also bring you a word of warning about Debian knock-offs. They are all great in their own right but let me just bring you a word of warning: They are not Debian!

What do I mean by that? Everybody knows that no other binary based distro has more binary packages available than Debian. Nothing comes close. Not Fedora, not Gentoo nor SuSE/Novell. I sometimes see people mistakenly say that they will have Debian packages available to them in their Debian based distro. This is a modification of the truth. Debian actually is three distributions in one. We call these "versions" of the distro stable, testing and unstable. Don't get fooled by the "unstable" stamp though because unstable it is not :) These three versions rely on many of the same packages but in different versions of them, with stable being the oldest (that is what you downloaded billl). The unstable version is the one with the most packages, the latest versions and least amount of testing done for compatibility etc.

Lets take a look at Ubuntu. Which version of Debian is Ubuntu tied to? Truth of the matter is none but it probably comes closest to unstable. Ubuntu has their own version of packages and the versions they use might span different layers of Debian, or even include stuff that isn't in unstable yet. So if you tell apt in Ubuntu to load something from a pure Debian unstable repository then you might actually end up breaking dependencies and so on. I have seen this happen on Xandros. Ubuntu, Xandros etc don't use the default Debian package repositories so don't get fooled into thinking that just because they are Debian based that you will have all Debian packages available to you.
hugoc wrote:Bah! I don't think there can be such a thing as too much choice, only too little. If you don't want to have to make choices, just install Suse, Mandrake or Fedora Core and leave everything at the default settings. It'll work.
Hehehe! That is one way to look at it and I certainly agree! This is one of the ways I learned Linux (by moving back and forth between Slackware and Redhat).

But my offer still stands on the Debian install once their new release comes out of beta. Who knows, if enough people show interest I might ask for a specific forum for it.
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Post by hugoc »

It is also a very nice desktop environment and the next version coming up will include some technical enhancements that will be killer for the desktop. I never get into the KDE vs Gnome arguments because I simply love the fact that I have a choice.
I agree. It's simply different strokes for different folks, and I think it's great that we have all these desktop environments and window managers to choose from.
We have discussed fatware here a lot and how it affects the feel of running an advanced desktop environment on your BP6 but I can tell you that KDE for example are working very hard at lowering their total footprint and memory consumption. They are doing a good job because version 3.3.x is much faster and sleeker than older versions.
Also true. Gnome 2.8 seems to me just as snappy as KDE 3.3.x, and I think both have been listening to the complaints of bloat. This trend will probably continue since CPU manufacturers don't seem able to crank up the speed anymore and are planning on going to dual-cores (we BP6'ers were right all along).
I would argue that KDE is snappier than XP on slow hardware. It takes longer to load but once it is loaded you don't get these pauses where nothing at all seems to be happening like you get in XP when you load the system a bit.
If you turn off all the XP eye candy it speeds up. But then you're essentially running Win2K anyway, since XP doesn't have all that much extra under the hood (certainly nothing compared to the NT4-Win2K transition). It's more like the Win95-Win98 change.
See the above. The new Debian installer is easy. What the Debian project has been trying to do now for some time is to learn from user friendly projects that are knock-offs from Debian itself. Also, the installer used in Ubuntu is actually the new Debian installer (OSS, gotta love it).
Yes, I had heard that. The Ubuntu installer is great. Still ncurses-based, but who cares? It gets the job done with ease.
Lets take a look at Ubuntu. Which version of Debian is Ubuntu tied to? Truth of the matter is none but it probably comes closest to unstable.
True. However, it does speed up the release cycle for Debian-based distros because they can use Debian packages with only a few changes. I have also heard that Ubuntu is very, very close to Debian, more so than Mepis or Xandros. I doubt that makes it 100% compatible but nevertheless, if you were troubleshooting the system you could assume it was Debian. For instance, I've looked at some config files in my Debian setup and a lot of them indicate in the comments that they were made by/for a Debian program.
But my offer still stands on the Debian install once their new release comes out of beta. Who knows, if enough people show interest I might ask for a specific forum for it.
I'm definitely interested in this new Debian. I love apt-get and Debian's overall philosophy, I'm running Ubuntu right now because the general consensus seems to be "Ubuntu=easy, Debian=hard). I'm probably buying a new system in April or May, and I've heard that Debian for AMD64 is very good and polished so I might get an AMD64 system and run that. Still mulling that one over though.
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Post by hyperspace »

purrkur wrote:But my offer still stands on the Debian install once their new release comes out of beta. Who knows, if enough people show interest I might ask for a specific forum for it.
At the very least, I think you should be the Moderator of our Linux forum! All in favor, say I!
Last edited by hyperspace on Sat Jan 22, 2005 2:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:19 am
Location: Southern Indiana, in the woods

Post by ~~~^^^mercury^^^~~~ »

I....I....I and "aye ... aye ... aye ..." :D
6 billion and counting
be one
InactiveX
BeOS Forever
Posts: 1385
Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:25 am
Location: UK

Post by InactiveX »

I say Image

A heartfelt "yes" from me!
Like BP6.com? Not a member?
Then why the hell not? It's great!
-> BP6.com Membership <-
Billl
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 1:52 pm
Location: USA

Post by Billl »

purrkur wrote:Billl: Sorry for not tuning in sooner. I have been so busy that work will finally kill me if I don't get a break soon.

Can someone walk us through a typical install?

If I only had more time!!!!!!! Billl, let me put it this way: I will be loading both my machines up with Debian sometime in the near future and what I thought about doing was to document a step by step guide on how to install the new Debian release on BP6. I am still waiting for them to release the final thing though before I do it so my work won't be based on a beta (although in most terms it doesn't matter). What I can do is a step by step process on how to get a minimalist installation of Debian running and how to add things to set up the desktop (and that will be done through an internet connection and not CD's), web server and so on. So if you can wait a bit longer then I will end up posting something of the sort.

I have helped a few friends get Debian up and running and they are now all sold on it :) I have also helped a few BP6:ers that have contacted me through this site when they were having problems. I have actually worked on other peoples Linux installations on their BP6's and helped them fix things.

But my offer still stands on the Debian install once their new release comes out of beta. Who knows, if enough people show interest I might ask for a specific forum for it.

That would be purrfect :)


Billl
Billl
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 1:52 pm
Location: USA

Post by Billl »

hyperspace wrote:
purrkur wrote:But my offer still stands on the Debian install once their new release comes out of beta. Who knows, if enough people show interest I might ask for a specific forum for it.
At the very least, I think you should be the Moderator of our Linux forum! All in favor, say I!
I say AYE :!:



Billl
Billl
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 1:52 pm
Location: USA

Post by Billl »

hugoc wrote:
I think it's fair to say that in some ways there is too much choice. At least for us that have lived in the Windows world most of our computing lives.
Bah! I don't think there can be such a thing as too much choice, only too little. If you don't want to have to make choices, just install Suse, Mandrake or Fedora Core and leave everything at the default settings. It'll work.
Well I didn't mean that in the sense that you took it. I was refering to being new to Linux and the choices being simply overwhelming. The more I look the more confused I get. But from what I've seen and read Debain seems the closests to what I would like.


Billl
Billl
Posts: 211
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 1:52 pm
Location: USA

Post by Billl »

hugoc wrote:
I downloaded Debian (Sarge) and it's on 15 cd's.
You probably didn't need to do that. I imagine you'll only use 10% of that software. The full package has all sorts of server-related stuff and tons of source code for everything. You're supposed to pick and choose what you need.
[/begin Rant Mode :)]

And here is a perfect example as to why you win so few converts. Ok so I'm a friggen idiot when it comes to Linux. I already knew that! What help is this reply? You tell me I downloaded more then I should have but never say a thing about what I should have done. How the heck do you expect a new user to figure out what he should do next? And don't take this personally Hugoc. It's not directed at you but more at the whole damn Linux community in general. It seems everytime one asks a question we get answers like this or almost worse, some unexplained jargon that leaves you more confussed then when you asked the original question. One of the earlier posts on installing Gentoo is a good example listed below;

( I realize this is taken completely out of context and it's not a slam on the discussion just an example)

FloW wrote:# These settings were set by the catalyst build script that automatically built$
# Please consult /etc/make.conf.example for a more detailed example
CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-march=pentium2 -O2 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}"
MAKEOPTS="-j3"
# OPTIMAL COMPILER-PROCESSES ON A BOARD WITH 2 CPUS
This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. What the hell do you guys think some Newbie is going to get out of that? Granted this was pulled out of the Gentoo discussion. And this isn't directed at anyone in particular. Thats a typical answer you get when you do actually ask a question. And actually I can make some sence of it since I have been around computers so long. But a new Windows users is just going to throw up his hands in confusion and head straight back to warm fuzzy Windows.

[/End Rant]

Ok I feel better now! :rude:

Billl
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