How do you know?

[Kevin Fries]

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Maciej R. wrote:
| Hello out there,
|
| I wanted to ask why you are using 'Fedora' and not for example 'Suse' or
| 'Debian'? What is the reason for choosing 'Fedora'? If you had a choice
| between 'Suse 9.2 Professional - DVD Edition' and 'Fedora Core 3 on DVD'
| what would you do?
|

I must admit that I am a bit biased.  The first time I picked up a Linux
distribution it was RedHat 3.0.3.  I had previously seem 2, and thought
I was just cooler having the newer version to play with.  Shortly there
after, I perfected my curse word vocabulary :-D

Since then, I have watched many distros come, go, and come back as a
whinnying crybaby of a nightmare (can we all say SCO, er Caldera, no its
back to SCO).  Lots of things have changed and lots of things remain the
same.  Linux is not as user friendly as Windows, and if the gods keep
smiling, it will always remain that way.  All that user friendliness
gets in the way when something goes wrong.  Professionals use
professional tools, and Linux (unlike Windows) is industrial strength.

First of all, you need to realize that Linux is not an operating system.
~ I know that we all talk like it is, but Linux is actually the operating
system core... nothing else.  What operating system, file systems,
utilities that are built by Debian, RedHat, Suse, etc are simply a
matter of each group trying to build a better mouse trap from a common
set of tools.  So, in the long run, it really does not matter which
distro (a.k.a operating system) you use.

As for me, I have used mostly Redhat Linux (not RHEL) then Fedora, and
Mandrake.  I have played with Suse for about 15 minutes (that is Andy
Warhol 15 minutes as in 15 minutes of fame).  Ditto with Debian.  They
both just felt wrong.  That does not mean they were, that just means
that after using RH for so long, I was just used to its goofy behaviors
and not used to Suse's or Debian's.  I actually built a Gentoo server
into production one time because I liked the concept behind it.  But in
the end, too many broken packages kept getting into the ports tree, and
too many of the really powerful features were simply not well
documented.  So even that machine is now running FC2.

Right now, there is only one odd duck in the computer world, and that is
Windows.  I do not think that Bill Gates ever passed Kindergarten
because he does not work and play well with others.  All forms of Unix,
Linux, and BSD (yes including Macs) will work and play well with one
another.  Once you leave Windows, you actually have the freedom of
running your network, instead of having it run you.  So, the short
synopsis to this very long answer is... it really does not matter.  The
most unstable *nix box will almost always be more stable than the most
stable Windows box.  Pick one, learn it, and expand your horizons.

If you do pick Fedora, and you are looking for it as a Corporate (vs a
Server only or limited) solution, I would suggest that you go do
dag.wieers.com and apt.freshrpm.net for a corporate software update
system that has no equivalent in Windows.

Welcome to the Brotherhood

- --
Kevin Fries
Network Administrator
Hydrologic Consultants, Inc of Colorado
(303) 969-8033    FAX: (303) 969-8357
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