Linux Desktop

[Calum]

void main, why do you particularly mention that you don't install emacs and TeX? surely they don't take up so much space, so what's your beef with them?

[voidmain]

All the tetex stuff *does* take up a lot of space.In fact well over 100MB. If I installed all the emacs stuff we're also talking 100MB. Why would I install things that I know I'll never use? I didn't tell anyone else not to install them, just mentioned that I don't install them because I don't use them. There are actually several more things that I don't install because I don't use them. I wouldn't tell a n00b not to install them because then they wouldn't have a chance to play with them and make up their own mind.

[Calum]

hey, hey, hey, i wasn't criticising your choices, i knew you didn't use emacs, but i didn't know they took up 100Mb each! personally though i think i could get away with a lot less. i use emacs as my main editor, and i only ever use the non-XWindows version. I have tried the other 4 versions that came with mandrake and didn't like them as much. too fiddly. Haven't tried any of the TeX stuff, but i suspect that once you know what stuff you prefer/need, you could get away with installing a lot less than everything.

As you say, if you don't need them then why install them, but your comments lead me to believe that you actually use almost everything else that comes with red hat? (otherwise why install it, right?)

edit:
ah, and i just noticed that void main posted his install experiences, here are mine:
I have an 850Mhz 'coppermine' P3, and with 3 mandrake CDs it took me 2 1/4 hours to install over half of the stuff (from each of the CDs), and it required NO reboot. That includes a couple of hundred programs, many of which were quite large, it also included ALL the drivers i needed and basically everything a DECENT system SHOULD come with, not mentioning any windows...

[ November 07, 2002: Message edited by: Calum & his insidious little spies ]

[voidmain]

quote:Originally posted by Calum & his insidious little spies:
As you say, if you don't need them then why install them, but your comments lead me to believe that you actually use almost everything else that comes with red hat? (otherwise why install it, right?)

That is correct. Everything I install I use at *least* periodically (I also use a lot of stuff that doesn't come with RedHat). But then I have been using this stuff for many many years now and I know how to use it. I know what I like to use and what I don't.

   

quote:I have an 850Mhz 'coppermine' P3, and with 3 mandrake CDs it took me 2 1/4 hours to install over half of the stuff (from each of the CDs), and it required NO reboot.

The last time I installed Mandrake it required one reboot to bootstrap the kernel that was installed. In fact every distro I have ever installed required exactly one reboot. Not sure how Mandrake can install and boot without doing a boot. Unless of course you use the same kernel for normal boots that they use on the install CD and just do some "chroot" calls and then run the boot scripts from hard drive. If the install kernel is unloaded and the kernel residing on the hard drive is loaded that is basically a "reboot". The nice thing is, it only has to happen once, just to initially load the kernel that was installed on the hard drive.

[ November 07, 2002: Message edited by: void main ]