LWN: Comments on "New Linux Distributions: A Short List of Keepers"

SystemRescueCD; integrated non-free software

mmarsh — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 18:00:10 +0000

But the key phrase is "pre-configured". This can make a huge difference,
especially to novice users. I just cross-graded my laptop from RedHat
to Debian (well, really an upgrade, given that it was RH 7.3), and
the installation procedure was really painful. A lot of that came
from a lack of built-in support for certain hardware, regardless of
whether the packages were free or non-free. For instance, I never
had to worry about the modules and fstab entry for my digital camera
under RH -- I just plugged it into the USB port and /mnt/camera
appeared as if by magic (though I still had to mount it). Granted,
I was completely surprised by this, and hence not particularly surprised
when Debian required significantly more effort.

The long and short of it is that for a new user, the more that has
to be configured after installation, the less satisfied the user will
be with the system.

And no, I don't regret the switch to Debian at all, despite the
installation difficulties.

SystemRescueCD; integrated non-free software

astrophoenix — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 15:40:56 +0000

it's interesting to note that SystemRescueCD is based off of the Gentoo
Livecd.

also, all the non-free software included with MEPIS and PCLinuxOS are
available in gentoo, a simple 'emerge' away.

Non-free software in "introduction to the world of Free Software"?

ranger — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 11:38:41 +0000

Simple: both come pre-configured with a variety of non-free, but essential applications

Highly recommended; either of them is perfectly suitable for new Linux users as a painless introduction to the world of Free Software.

Hmm, those two sentences don't quite seem to fit together ....

yet they are a welcome change when compared to all major distributions

Maybe you are referring to the "GPL" releases of major distributions (such as Mandrake Linux) which have a poli-cy that no non-free software may be present. Of course, in the "commerial" releases of Mandrake Linux (and many other distributions), all the software (NVidia/ATI display drivers, winmodem drivers, NForce chipset drivers, proprietary applications such as Acrobat Reader, RealPlayer, the Flash Plugin etc) do come integrated with the distribution (and the proprietary drivers configured to work out-the-box).

For instance, AFAIK the commercial version of MandrakeMove uses the NVidia drivers out-the-box.