Other Distros (NOT A FLAMEWAR TOPIC!!)

[Chris Peterman]

Before you all go and bash me for the subject line, read the email at least :D

Okay, presumably we all love X/K/Ubuntu, but we must have also tried other 
Distros in the past, or even are using other Distros now. So, the idea of 
this topic is to share our experiances with other distros so that others can 
learn about them. I know I sure as hell get bored every once in a while and 
switch to another distro on my production machine to see what its like. So 
lets here your opinions! Note that if ANY flamewars go on....I'll smack 
whoever did it :D

As a matter of fact, I'm running ArchLinux on my Desktop right now (Laptop is 
Xubuntu Dapper and server is Xen Breezy with Debian Stable/Testing 
XenGuests). So I guess I'll go first with a review on ArchLinux

ArchLinux is quite nice for tinkerers. Actually their site says (in their 
comparison to Ubuntu) that if you like a "fire and forget" install and 
general experiance, use Ubuntu. But if you like tinkering with the system, 
use ArchLinux. I have found this to be true. The install is a standard affair 
with a NCurses based installer that invokes memories of Debian and 
Slackware's installers. It too drops you to a command line upon installing, 
not even bothering to setup passwords during the install. Which means you 
better as hell create a root password ASAP. Once root is locked down, you 
have to create a normal user with adduser. Not to hard, provided you have 
some command line experiance. Once the users are setup, you need to install 
X, if you want to. This is where what I consider to be the major breaking 
point for me in most distros comes into play, package management. You know 
that we are spoiled rotton by Apt-Get, so us people who hail from 
Debian-based distros have a low tolerance for crappy package managers. Well, 
ArchLinux doesn't dissappoint with its pacman. I dare say it gives Apt a run 
for its money.  Anyway installation of X is easy, just pacman -Sy your 
favorite WM/DE. However don't expect X to be preconfigured. You will have to 
rely on the old standby, xorgconfig. Also don't expect a DM to be configured 
either. Unless you install one and add it into the right places, you'll have 
to launch X from the commandline with startx (after adding the command to 
start your DE to your ~/.xinitrc) which I don't find too bad. 

You'll have to configure a bunch more on your own (like ALSA), but if you are 
like me and love to tinker, you'll find it quite enjoyable.

In a nutshell, Arch hit the money with their assessment of Arch vs. Ubuntu. If 
you like a fire and forget install, use Ubuntu. If you like to screw around 
with the system, use Arch.

'til next time :D


-- 
~ Chris "Kyral" Peterman
Computer Science Undergraduate
Clarkson University
Associate Member of the Free Software Foundation
Ubuntu Member
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