RE: What linux distro is recommended

[THOMAS Paul Richard]

As a bear of little brain, I chose to go with Red Hat 9.  This has Octave
bundled in.  A slight wrinkle for the unwitting concerns the conversion of
the downloaded .iso files into something bootable. I use Nero as my CD
burning software under Windows.  Do not be fooled into using the CD-ROM(ISO)
menu; this just stuffs the image of an ISO CD as a file on and ISO CD, if
you see what I mean. Use CD copy.  Nero seems intent on using only files of
type .nrg for this purpose.  Much to my surprise, renaming the .iso
downloads to .nrg's resulted in bootable CDs.  The install procedure is
completely bomb-proof.  My only real difficulty was with an Alcatel ADSL
modem.  Downloadable drivers exist but why, oh why, do the authors assume
that the end users are system experts? The "how to do" for simple minded
folk like me could have been written with half the length of what was
provided!  ABove all, what is wrong with EXAMPLES?

To begin with, I used a boot CD for the Linux and left the Windows XP
totally alone.  However, as Linux took over, this became inconvenient and
Grub was installed.  This lives completely happily with the XP and I have
had no problems with either.  I should remark that I carved out a VFAT
partition from the top end of the NTFS drive, so that I would have a
Windows/Linux swap space.

The bundled Octave runs just fine and I have compiled and used various .oct
add-ons with no trouble whatever.  I have loaded up the Intel Fortran
compiler and this works great, in spite of mine being an AMD cpu..... It is
blisteringly fast ( the two codes that I have got up and running so far
execute about two and a half times more quickly than using the DEC/Compaq
compiler) but is furiously defensive of the Fortran 90 standard..... 

In short, I am pleased with the Red Hat 9 Linux and, of the others, to
paraphrase the Guinness advert, "I don't like them because I have never
tried them".

Paul   

-----Message d'origine-----
De : A. Danial [mailto:address@hidden
Envoyé : samedi 25 octobre 2003 23:13
À : help-octave
Objet : Re: What linux distro is recommended


On Saturday 25 October 2003 12:21 pm, Niels L. Ellegaard wrote:
> Quentin Spencer <address@hidden> writes:
> > Obed Sands wrote:
> > I believe there
> > are several users on this list who would recommend Debian. The
> > advantage of Debian is you can use apt-get to install the latest
> > version without compiling anything yourself.
>
> I don't think it is right to advice a Linux novice to start out using
> Debian. I did this myself, and I learned a lot, but it also took a lot
> of because Debian does not work out of the box for novice users.

I disagree.  By far the easiest Linux install I've ever witnessed 
is Debian-based.  This distribution I'm referring to is Knoppix,
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-old-en.html

Download the .iso, burn a cdrom (has to be the larger 80 minute size),
then boot your computer off this cdrom.  As Knoppix runs right off 
the cdrom you can try it out without any modifications to your computer.
If you don't like it, reboot, take the cdrom out, and you are back
to your untouched Windows/Linux/FreeBSD/whatever-was-there-before 
system.  If you do like it (and I haven't met anyone who hasn't),
you can install to the hard drive with a single command,
http://www.freenet.org.nz/misc/knoppix-install.html

After the install finishes you have a Debian system running KDE.  
Unless you have unusual hardware, sound, graphics, and networking 
will all be autodetected and autoconfigured.

> Novices should start out with one of the following: Mandrake, Redhat
> or SUSE. 

Knoppix has a big advantage over Mandrake, RedHat, and SUSE:  there
is no risk with Knoppix.  If you don't like what you see running
off the cdrom then you can just reboot and have your original 
computer system back.  With the other three, your options
are much more limited:  commit to a hard drive install, or see it
running on someone else's machine.  

Debian, via Knoppix as the installation vehicle, is the way to go 
for novices (and everyone else too really).   -- Al



-------------------------------------------------------------
Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.

Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
-------------------------------------------------------------

---
Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.528 / Virus Database: 324 - Release Date: 16/10/03
 

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.528 / Virus Database: 324 - Release Date: 16/10/03
 



-------------------------------------------------------------
Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.

Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
-------------------------------------------------------------