[PLUG] Linux Desktop - Time to make the change

[Rich Shepard]

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:

> If you don't want or need Debian compatibility, you could look at CentOS.
> CentOS is an RHEL clone. Other the denizens of this list, there isn't a
> whole lot of Debian adminstration expertise you can fall back on if you get
> into trouble, but there are lots of Red Hat folk. I have one system running
> CentOS 4.2 now, and I like it. It's very stable and secure ... the desktop
> is perhaps a bit "outdated" for your taste, but I have had rotten luck with
> Fedora Core, so I switched to CentOS.

   Gee! What happened to Gentoo? There was a lot of interest in that
distribution here not too long ago. Not to start a big discussion, but is an
enterprise-level OS (CentOS, RHEL, etc.) really appropriate for a stand alone
desktop workstation -- without a lot of reconfiguring? And, while considering
options, don't overlook The Quiet Distribution: Slackware.

> Right now I'm tracking something called "Chandler", named after Raymond
> Chandler of the mystery novels. It's about 0.5 release level right now; the
> last release they call stable dates back to about April. I wouldn't trust a
> business to it yet, of course, but it looks like their combination of
> hierarchy (trees), facets and tags has the potential to revolutionize the
> PIM. Have a look at

   Do you use a PalmOS PDA? If so, pilot-link comes with all distributions and
jpilot is a great desktop version of what you have on the hand-held. Very
highly recommended.

> That was actually going to be my *real* advice -- get a new Windows XP
> system with the latest advanced supported hardware and upgrade all your
> applications like a good boy. :) I didn't think that would fly on a Linux
> list, but since *you* mentioned it first ...

   Jason has limited molars, and might prefer to use them on food. :-)

> ... but the power will still be concentrated *somewhere*.

   Some of us prefer that concentration locally, where we make the decisions.

Rich

-- 
Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President     |   Author of "Quantifying Environmental
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM) |  Impact Assessments Using Fuzzy Logic"
<http://www.appl-ecosys.com>     Voice: 503-667-4517         Fax: 503-667-8863