Lookin for a change...

[TheGreatPoo]

Hello,

I'm lookin for a change from Mandrake 8.2 to something else.  I'm intrigued by Slackware but know next to nothing about it other than it "hauls ass!"  How does Slackware compare to Mandrake (performance, ease of use, features, included software, etc.)?  Mandrake 8.2 is the only Linux distro I've ever used and I am still pretty new to the Linux scene.  Is Slackware right for me?

Thanx in advance for any assistance!!!  

[Ice-9]

I guess not, from all I hear Slackware and Debian are two distros for the more experienced users, the most Unix-alike from all of the available distros.

I know for a fact that I very much like rpm packages and not having to compile everything from source  

[Master of Reality]

slackware has tgz packages which i have found to be better than RPMs. Try Evil Entity its really user friendly and is based on slackware.

[voidmain]

If you want to learn a lot more about your system by all means you should try out both of those distros. In fact Debian really isn't harder than any of the others. In fact in many ways it's easier. Debian has it's own package management system much like RPM (but they are called DEB packages in Debian). Installing software using apt in Debian couldn't be easier. They have all the binary packages just like you find on the RPM based systems. I like Debian a lot but there are a few reasons I have stuck primarily with Red Hat, none of them really are technical reasons. In fact if I went only on technical merit Debian would be my distro of primary choice.

[TheGreatPoo]

Hmm, I guess Slackware is out of the picture (for now    ).

Evil Entity eh?  Is it fast?

This will be going on my Mom's computer first, then mine (when I get an x86).  She has a HP Pavillion with the Pentium-III 500MHz and 128 MB of RAM.  Windows 98 is on there now.  Will Linux be faster (I'm assuming that will arise a huge unanimous "YES!")?  I want something that she can use easily after I've set it up (she knows very little about computers but has the capacity to learn).  Seeing as I am still a n00b, I don't want to get lost seting things up for her.  How is Mandrake 9 as far a performance goes?

Thanx for the replies guys!

[Interscope]

mandrake 9.0 is a bitch when it comes to speed. I have a p2 350 which is o/ced to 400 and 128mbram. It's pretty slow. I'd say use 8.2 if you're going to use mandrake.

[voidmain]

Faster? It all depends on what you factor into it. If you factor in the BSOD/reboots and reinstalls then yes Linux will be faster. On that particular machine I doubt you will find Linux to be faster than Win98 not factoring in the crashes. In fact very possibly you will find it to run slower but it doesn't cost you anything to find out. Win98 isn't in the same class for what goes on under the covers. It really has nothing going on underneath to make it grunt, however, it often *does* grunt on who knows what.

[TheGreatPoo]

Surprisingly enough her Win 98 installation has been pretty stable!  I know, I'm shocked too.  She has had the pooter for three years and I never once had to reinstall the OS.  Win 98 came preinstalled and has ran pretty good (that means "with the typical problems") for three years.  No major crashes have ever happened and nothing a good run of Norton WinDoctor couldn't fix.

Nevertheless, I am anti-M$ and am aware of all of the security holes in Windows.  She shops online frequently and I don't want her to get burned by someone stealing her info.  I would rather install a good, stable, and secure OS now before something DOES happen.  Ya know?

Slackware seems a bit advanced for me now that I have really looked at it and read user's opinions of it.  I'll probably spring for EE or Mandrake.  I already have Mandrake 8.2 so if I need something to fall back on I've got that.  I've heard some people saying that Mandrake 9's performance is greater than that of Mandrake 8.2.  Is this true?  What about KDE 3 and the new Gnome?  What about Debian or SuSe?!?!?

UHG!  So many questions!

I'm glad you guys are patient with a an ignorant Linux user like myself.  Thank you for the help thus far!  

[Master of Reality]

well... Evil Entity is based on Slackware, so i say go with Red Hat 8.0

[TheGreatPoo]

I have read many of debates of which is better, Mandrake 9 or RedHat 8 and none of them drew any conclusions.  Maybe I'll try RedHat.  I've experienced Mandrake and RedHat seems to be similar and easy but different.  I think I'll give it a shot!

[rtgwbmsr]

quote:Originally posted by TheGreatPoo: Mac Commando:
Hmm, I guess Slackware is out of the picture (for now       ).

Evil Entity eh?  Is it fast?

This will be going on my Mom's computer first, then mine (when I get an x86).  She has a HP Pavillion with the Pentium-III 500MHz and 128 MB of RAM.  Windows 98 is on there now.  Will Linux be faster (I'm assuming that will arise a huge unanimous "YES!")?  I want something that she can use easily after I've set it up (she knows very little about computers but has the capacity to learn).  Seeing as I am still a n00b, I don't want to get lost seting things up for her.  How is Mandrake 9 as far a performance goes?

Thanx for the replies guys!

For you, Evil entity, Red Hat, or Debian

For you mom, Lycoris. You even get to play solitare while you install it  

[TheGreatPoo]

I had never even heard of Lycoris before you said anything!  I used that looong list of OS's on the fuckMicrosoft.com home page to find it.  I went there...

It looks so much like WinXP it's SCARY!!  Are you sure it's Linux?    

How does it measure up to windows (performance wise).  Sorry about askin all the speed Q's but this is a slower system and one thing Mom complains about all the time is how she has to wait for everythiing so it's kind of a concern.

I'll show that to her.  Thanx for the tip Muffin Man!!