Dave Laird
2006-01-04 17:59:18 UTC
Good morning, Netizens...
It is time once again to perform an annual act of gross self-immolation
when, once again, I test the latest distributions of Linux desktop
software against my humble workstation. If there ever was a heartthrob of
software engineering out there, a place that not only pleases me but
leaves me actually *fond* of my software, I'm still looking for that
dolphin in the sea, because I haven't found it YET.
In the last two years, since I first began this maddening rush toward
self-destruction, mayhem and generally wasting my time, I've tried the
following distributions with the following conclusions:
(1.) Red Hat Software's Workstation: It's nice, but after all, it is just
Red Hat RPM-based, and since I'd rather not limit myself to just one type
of file system, I've always tended to look to other fields when it comes
to my desktop software, as opposed to my server software.
(2.) Mandrake: This was, of course, back before they changed their name
after filing bankruptcy. This distribution once had promise, until
Mandrake turned their updating machines off, thus stranding everyone, both
registered paid users and free users alike.
(3.) Mandriva: This is the new-and-improved name of Mandrake, with a new
and not-so-improved philosophy that suggests, among other things, if you
REALLY like our software, but don't want to pay for it, then we will use
every trick known to man, including SPAM, to coerce you into parting with
some of your hard-earned money. I don't like coercion.
(4.) Yellow Dog: I briefly tested this dandy piece of Red Hat-compatible
software over a year ago, and then, other than a considerable number of
multimedia configuration glitches and some incompatibility with Open
Office, I truly liked what I saw. Eventually, partly due to some
considerable leveraging on the part of James Vahn, I departed Yellow Dog
in favor of Debian Sarge, which turned out not to be that bad of an idea,
after all.
(5.) Debian Sarge: I went from testing Debian Woody to actually deploying
Debian Sarge within a week of one another, but I continued using Sarge for
nearly a year because of the HUGE amount of software and tools they
feature. Red Hat may proclaim for the weenies and beans variety of Linux
users that they offer more software than anyone else in the world, but if
the truth is REALLY known, Debian has made considerable inroads into Red
Hat's proclamation, and offer one of the biggest archives in the entire
world, including a lot of database stuff that Red Hat loudly proclaims is
not worthy of their time. I eventually dropped Debian in order to test all
phases, including the workstation mode, of CentOS. (see below)
(6.) CentOS: By the time I had arrived at CentOS Software's front door, I
had configured my workstation specifically so I could easily jump from one
distribution to another by putting my user-prepared files in other places
on different hard drives; important things such as invoices, reports,
spreadsheets, database application files and my high-game scores. The only
reason I could justify using CentOS for workstations is that I have begun
using CentOS rather extensively for network servers, and thus far, at two
years and counting, my faith in the durability and security features of
CentOS has not been dented, not even once. However, back to the
workstations. CentOS did not have a lot of the features and functions I
really want, but especially they were two versions back in their releases
of KDE, my choice of desktop software.
(7.) Ubuntu: Enter one of the newest distributions with a really funky
name that has the *latest* KDE development. Now let me begin by saying I
have been running Ubuntu for less than a week, but that, like its
namesake, Debian, it has access to all the software you or anyone else
would ever need, courtesy of the .DEB file system. However, what Ubuntu
has done is filled in all the gaps in the Debian O/S when it comes to
developing a vital, impressive GUI. Also like Debian, if you want to run
KDE as opposed to Gnome, you have to make some *major* modifications,
because Ubuntu will not install KDE as its default desktop, at least from
the latest CD burned from ISO.
Now, since we're discussing my latest distribution test, we might as well
cover all the bugs and glitches I've seen in Ubuntu. That isn't to say, by
a long shot, that all the above didn't have snags of their own. On the
contrary, using and deploying Linux as a workstation, particularly if you
feel the urge to run non-traditional interfaces or software, means you
have to "tweak" things in order for them to work. Only Microsoft ever has
made the claim to ironing out all the bugs for their intrepid users, and,
of course, we all know what THAT means.
[From the beginning]
If you are fearless and *knowlegable* you could download and burn the
latest Ubuntu ISO files to CD in less time than it has taken me to belch
one with emphasis. (It takes a lot of time for such questionable
endeavors) Having backed up everything you consider near and dear, you
slap the burned CD in your drive and reboot, and then let the Ubuntu
installation program, a far cry from the Debian Sarge installation, to be
sure, do its thing. Fifteen minutes later, your workstation reboots, and
presto! You're in business. Then the not-so-obvious bugs make themselves
casually friendly with you.
A. You have to manually install KDE from the Ubuntu repositories, even if
you THINK you have selected the KDE files during the installation. By
default, Ubuntu installs Gnome. At least now, the installation allows you
to use Kontact as your default e-mail and news application, although it
does carp a little about it, since it defaults to Evolution, which I
personally LOATHE.
B. On the positive side, however, it also installs all the tools and
daemons you would ever need to establish a working connection to the
Internet, complete with the latest Firefox web browser and file and
Internet utilities up the yin yang, and then it neatly and very cleanly
helps you configure them for your use. You would have to be a real DUMMY
in order to not be able to use Ubuntu right out of the box, and real
dummies are not supposed to ever use anything but Windows.
C. I had to tweak a LOT of the video and graphics functions, largely due
to the ATI All-in-Wonder TV card I run as my default video card. However,
like Debian, I was up and running in a matter of less than an hour, thanks
to many of my Debian experiences with configuring ATI cards AND some
judicious drivers provided by Ubuntu. Where were these guys when I was
fighting Debian Sarge? Still, it has to be said that it was relatively
painless, considering the hours or even days it takes to configure the TV
card when using Red Hat or Red Hat-based software.
D. Do NOT use the default printer software provided by Ubuntu. Stick with
that which works, the Cups printing subsystem. Unfortunately, there have
been a series of bugs, nearly all of which originate with the authors of
Cups themselves, which are technically difficult to negate when using
either Mandriva, Mandrake or Red Hat. Ubuntu made short work of setting up
and configuring my workstation printers, which are scattered like flies
all around my network.
E. Despite the fact that, once you download and configure KDE's desktop
and make it your default, you are not done with KDE's Kontact yet. You
also manually have to download and configure Knode, the powerful Usenet
news reader that comes (normally) as part of Kontact. However, once you
use the Debian-based repositories to grab the latest copy of Knode, you're
in business! Once Kontact runs and starts, it will stay connected
*forever* to your favorite Usenet news server, which may or may not be a
good thing. AHEM.
F. Every distribution I have tested, bar none, have required a
considerable amount of configuration file modification prior to calling
the job complete, and Ubuntu is no different in that regard. Once you get
used to the idea that some of the files and directories (only Windows
weenies call them folders, in my opinion) are in unusual places, and learn
how to navigate the directory tree quickly, there isn't a lot of
difference between configuring the daemons and applications. For example,
regardless of what settings you have applied to DPMI functions (turn off
your monitor and hard drives after a predictable period of time) you have
to *manually* set the switches in /etc/sysconfig to OFF if you do not like
having a black screen after being away from your desk for awhile.
G. Repeat carefully after me: THIS IS DEBIAN. Although it doesn't require
a prophylactic, you should be careful what you put in it. For over a
decade, my personal favorite text editor, Jed, one that I have invested
thousands of hours of carefree work and some considerable development time
over all the above distributions, is generally best-viewed if compiled
from source. In a senior moment, perhaps, I simply forgot where I was and
installed the latest Jed tarball from the Jed download page, and it simply
didn't work with the latest Jed Slang libraries. It wasn't until a
frustrating hour had passed before I realized I had installed the regular
Jed source, not the Debian source. I went back, removed the libraries and
the source, and installed the Jed Debian installation from the latest .DEB
file using Synaptic and everything works as expected, including the
dictionary and thesaurus. Life couldn't be much better than this. If
anything, it is faster!
H. Every database application, and some I haven't had the time to test
yet, are available for Ubuntu/Debian, where not all are available for Red
Hat-based systems. Some of the most-recent development for MaxDB, a MySQL
development, are available from the regular repositories, and they work,
as expected, right out of the box. I did have to do a bit of tweaking to
make my personal favorite front-end, Rekall, work, but I never did get it
functional anywhere else.
In short, after my limited testing and bug patching above, I expect to be
using Unbuntu as my default workstation distribution for awhile. It is a
long ways ahead of Debian, but with all the packages a Linux-head could
ever ask for. Yes, I'm content, at least for the moment.
Dave
It is time once again to perform an annual act of gross self-immolation
when, once again, I test the latest distributions of Linux desktop
software against my humble workstation. If there ever was a heartthrob of
software engineering out there, a place that not only pleases me but
leaves me actually *fond* of my software, I'm still looking for that
dolphin in the sea, because I haven't found it YET.
In the last two years, since I first began this maddening rush toward
self-destruction, mayhem and generally wasting my time, I've tried the
following distributions with the following conclusions:
(1.) Red Hat Software's Workstation: It's nice, but after all, it is just
Red Hat RPM-based, and since I'd rather not limit myself to just one type
of file system, I've always tended to look to other fields when it comes
to my desktop software, as opposed to my server software.
(2.) Mandrake: This was, of course, back before they changed their name
after filing bankruptcy. This distribution once had promise, until
Mandrake turned their updating machines off, thus stranding everyone, both
registered paid users and free users alike.
(3.) Mandriva: This is the new-and-improved name of Mandrake, with a new
and not-so-improved philosophy that suggests, among other things, if you
REALLY like our software, but don't want to pay for it, then we will use
every trick known to man, including SPAM, to coerce you into parting with
some of your hard-earned money. I don't like coercion.
(4.) Yellow Dog: I briefly tested this dandy piece of Red Hat-compatible
software over a year ago, and then, other than a considerable number of
multimedia configuration glitches and some incompatibility with Open
Office, I truly liked what I saw. Eventually, partly due to some
considerable leveraging on the part of James Vahn, I departed Yellow Dog
in favor of Debian Sarge, which turned out not to be that bad of an idea,
after all.
(5.) Debian Sarge: I went from testing Debian Woody to actually deploying
Debian Sarge within a week of one another, but I continued using Sarge for
nearly a year because of the HUGE amount of software and tools they
feature. Red Hat may proclaim for the weenies and beans variety of Linux
users that they offer more software than anyone else in the world, but if
the truth is REALLY known, Debian has made considerable inroads into Red
Hat's proclamation, and offer one of the biggest archives in the entire
world, including a lot of database stuff that Red Hat loudly proclaims is
not worthy of their time. I eventually dropped Debian in order to test all
phases, including the workstation mode, of CentOS. (see below)
(6.) CentOS: By the time I had arrived at CentOS Software's front door, I
had configured my workstation specifically so I could easily jump from one
distribution to another by putting my user-prepared files in other places
on different hard drives; important things such as invoices, reports,
spreadsheets, database application files and my high-game scores. The only
reason I could justify using CentOS for workstations is that I have begun
using CentOS rather extensively for network servers, and thus far, at two
years and counting, my faith in the durability and security features of
CentOS has not been dented, not even once. However, back to the
workstations. CentOS did not have a lot of the features and functions I
really want, but especially they were two versions back in their releases
of KDE, my choice of desktop software.
(7.) Ubuntu: Enter one of the newest distributions with a really funky
name that has the *latest* KDE development. Now let me begin by saying I
have been running Ubuntu for less than a week, but that, like its
namesake, Debian, it has access to all the software you or anyone else
would ever need, courtesy of the .DEB file system. However, what Ubuntu
has done is filled in all the gaps in the Debian O/S when it comes to
developing a vital, impressive GUI. Also like Debian, if you want to run
KDE as opposed to Gnome, you have to make some *major* modifications,
because Ubuntu will not install KDE as its default desktop, at least from
the latest CD burned from ISO.
Now, since we're discussing my latest distribution test, we might as well
cover all the bugs and glitches I've seen in Ubuntu. That isn't to say, by
a long shot, that all the above didn't have snags of their own. On the
contrary, using and deploying Linux as a workstation, particularly if you
feel the urge to run non-traditional interfaces or software, means you
have to "tweak" things in order for them to work. Only Microsoft ever has
made the claim to ironing out all the bugs for their intrepid users, and,
of course, we all know what THAT means.
[From the beginning]
If you are fearless and *knowlegable* you could download and burn the
latest Ubuntu ISO files to CD in less time than it has taken me to belch
one with emphasis. (It takes a lot of time for such questionable
endeavors) Having backed up everything you consider near and dear, you
slap the burned CD in your drive and reboot, and then let the Ubuntu
installation program, a far cry from the Debian Sarge installation, to be
sure, do its thing. Fifteen minutes later, your workstation reboots, and
presto! You're in business. Then the not-so-obvious bugs make themselves
casually friendly with you.
A. You have to manually install KDE from the Ubuntu repositories, even if
you THINK you have selected the KDE files during the installation. By
default, Ubuntu installs Gnome. At least now, the installation allows you
to use Kontact as your default e-mail and news application, although it
does carp a little about it, since it defaults to Evolution, which I
personally LOATHE.
B. On the positive side, however, it also installs all the tools and
daemons you would ever need to establish a working connection to the
Internet, complete with the latest Firefox web browser and file and
Internet utilities up the yin yang, and then it neatly and very cleanly
helps you configure them for your use. You would have to be a real DUMMY
in order to not be able to use Ubuntu right out of the box, and real
dummies are not supposed to ever use anything but Windows.
C. I had to tweak a LOT of the video and graphics functions, largely due
to the ATI All-in-Wonder TV card I run as my default video card. However,
like Debian, I was up and running in a matter of less than an hour, thanks
to many of my Debian experiences with configuring ATI cards AND some
judicious drivers provided by Ubuntu. Where were these guys when I was
fighting Debian Sarge? Still, it has to be said that it was relatively
painless, considering the hours or even days it takes to configure the TV
card when using Red Hat or Red Hat-based software.
D. Do NOT use the default printer software provided by Ubuntu. Stick with
that which works, the Cups printing subsystem. Unfortunately, there have
been a series of bugs, nearly all of which originate with the authors of
Cups themselves, which are technically difficult to negate when using
either Mandriva, Mandrake or Red Hat. Ubuntu made short work of setting up
and configuring my workstation printers, which are scattered like flies
all around my network.
E. Despite the fact that, once you download and configure KDE's desktop
and make it your default, you are not done with KDE's Kontact yet. You
also manually have to download and configure Knode, the powerful Usenet
news reader that comes (normally) as part of Kontact. However, once you
use the Debian-based repositories to grab the latest copy of Knode, you're
in business! Once Kontact runs and starts, it will stay connected
*forever* to your favorite Usenet news server, which may or may not be a
good thing. AHEM.
F. Every distribution I have tested, bar none, have required a
considerable amount of configuration file modification prior to calling
the job complete, and Ubuntu is no different in that regard. Once you get
used to the idea that some of the files and directories (only Windows
weenies call them folders, in my opinion) are in unusual places, and learn
how to navigate the directory tree quickly, there isn't a lot of
difference between configuring the daemons and applications. For example,
regardless of what settings you have applied to DPMI functions (turn off
your monitor and hard drives after a predictable period of time) you have
to *manually* set the switches in /etc/sysconfig to OFF if you do not like
having a black screen after being away from your desk for awhile.
G. Repeat carefully after me: THIS IS DEBIAN. Although it doesn't require
a prophylactic, you should be careful what you put in it. For over a
decade, my personal favorite text editor, Jed, one that I have invested
thousands of hours of carefree work and some considerable development time
over all the above distributions, is generally best-viewed if compiled
from source. In a senior moment, perhaps, I simply forgot where I was and
installed the latest Jed tarball from the Jed download page, and it simply
didn't work with the latest Jed Slang libraries. It wasn't until a
frustrating hour had passed before I realized I had installed the regular
Jed source, not the Debian source. I went back, removed the libraries and
the source, and installed the Jed Debian installation from the latest .DEB
file using Synaptic and everything works as expected, including the
dictionary and thesaurus. Life couldn't be much better than this. If
anything, it is faster!
H. Every database application, and some I haven't had the time to test
yet, are available for Ubuntu/Debian, where not all are available for Red
Hat-based systems. Some of the most-recent development for MaxDB, a MySQL
development, are available from the regular repositories, and they work,
as expected, right out of the box. I did have to do a bit of tweaking to
make my personal favorite front-end, Rekall, work, but I never did get it
functional anywhere else.
In short, after my limited testing and bug patching above, I expect to be
using Unbuntu as my default workstation distribution for awhile. It is a
long ways ahead of Debian, but with all the packages a Linux-head could
ever ask for. Yes, I'm content, at least for the moment.
Dave
--
Dave Laird (***@kharma.net)
The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project
An automatic & random thought For the Minute:
Happiness, n.:
An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of
another.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
Dave Laird (***@kharma.net)
The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project
An automatic & random thought For the Minute:
Happiness, n.:
An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of
another.
-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"