[wellylug] Knoppix

[glynch at paradise.net.nz]

ftp.citylink.co.nz

includes debian, knoppix, gentoo and a few others


Quoting Daniel <daniel at dev-zone.org>:

> Hi all,
> 
> Does anyone know where there is a local mirror of knoppix?
> 
> Daniel
> 
> One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown
>  is the belief that one's work is terribly important.
> 
>  Bertrand Russell
>  --The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell
> 
> 
> 
> Eugene Van Wyk wrote:
> > Hi Brent
> > 
> > Accepted. I can understand all that. But maybe this should be said a
> > little louder then. For Joe Soap that sees this distro and decides to
> > give it a bash, may be the only time Mandrake has a chance to get
> > another client, and if MDK10 was my first contact with Linux, I would
> > certainly have given up by now. I know it has performed flawlessly
> for
> > some, but I have had issues on every platform I've tried.
> > 
> > To date my best consistent MDK experience has been with Mandrake8.
> > Second on the list has been the disk based install for Knoppix.
> Besides
> > Red Hat, I have not played with any other distro's.
> > 
> > BTW, do you remember the command to do a disk install of Knoppix. I
> > have another P1 machine that I would like to give the Knoppix
> treatment?
> > 
> > Eugene van Wyk
> > Test Development Engineer
> > 4RF Communications Ltd
> > 26 Glover St
> > Ngauranga
> > Wellington
> > New Zealand
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: wellylug-admin at lists.wellylug.org.nz
> > [mailto:wellylug-admin at lists.wellylug.org.nz] On Behalf Of Wood Brent
> > Sent: Wednesday, 1 September 2004 10:41 a.m.
> > To: wellylug at lists.wellylug.org.nz
> > Subject: RE: [wellylug] I blew it - lost a convert
> > 
> > 
> > --- Eugene Van Wyk <Eugene.VanWyk at 4rf.com> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>I agree with MDK10 hassles. I am still struggling on since I've had
> >>Mandrake8, 9 and now 10 Each new program install is a major fight,
> and
> > 
> > I
> > 
> >>still can't get OOo1.1.2 to run from the menu. (MDK8 or 10) I've
> > 
> > also
> > 
> >>had regular issues with X just going sad, and the machine sitting
> > 
> > there
> > 
> >>with a black screen. 
> > 
> > 
> > I think there needs to be some clarification about Linux (esp
> Mandrake)
> > and
> > hardware support, graphics in particular. (This is just how I see it-
> in
> > a very
> > general sense. Flames to /dev/null, criticisms are fine :-) 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > The freely downloadable version of Mandrake has NO proprietary
> software.
> > So can
> > be freely copied, given away without restriction. So it does not have
> > the ATi
> > or Nvidia drivers, because their licensing is not considered free &
> > open.
> > 
> > Same for some other hardware, including some modem & LAN drivers.
> > 
> > If you purchase the Professional version of Mandrake, as a commercial
> > product
> > the contents do NOT all have to be free & open. I can't speak for the
> > ATi cards
> > from personal experience, but I know that I have NEVER had any
> problems
> > with
> > ANY hardware, from graphics, LAN, modems, sound, TV cards, etc when
> > using the
> > commercial version of Mandrake. eg: it correctly identified an on
> board
> > MX440
> > graphics, BT TV card, etc. Correctly installed the proprietary 3D
> Nvidia
> > drivers, video4linux, etc, set up my Windows partition in LILO to
> boot
> > properly.
> > 
> > This is pretty typical IN MY EXPERIENCE!!! (Yours may well vary)
> > 
> > So, the Mandrake "Community Edition" does not have all the bells &
> > whistles. As
> > long as some hardware requires proprietary drivers, it is unlikely
> yhat
> > any
> > free release of Linux will ever avoid such problems. The Community
> > Edition is
> > so called because it is NOT intended as the total solution for
> everyone,
> > but is
> > more for the Linux & Mandrake community to play with. I believe it
> does
> > a
> > pretty good job overall.
> > 
> > Please don't expect any free & Open Source software to have full
> support
> > for
> > all hardware when the hardware developers & manufacturers do not
> release
> > open
> > source drivers. 
> > 
> > If this is a problem, then get the commercial version & I'm pretty
> sure
> > most if
> > not all such problems will be avoided. 
> > 
> > FYI, the 10 CD Mandrake 10 distro that Damon put together & may still
> be
> > around
> > has many packages not included on the normal Mandrake 10 version. You
> > may find
> > that this solves some problems as well.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > I would also note that in my experience, "name brand" systems, like
> > Dell, IBM,
> > Compaq, Packard Smell/NEC, .... do have a habit of believing they
> know
> > better
> > than everyone else & sometimes do things in a slightly different way.
> So
> > generic memory won't work, etc.... They are also more prone to having
> > generic
> > software not work as seamlessly as well. A good locally assembled
> system
> > made
> > of standard components is (IMHO) less likely to have niggles with
> Linux
> > than
> > systems from the big companies...
> > 
> > (But I guess, as always, your experiences may differ :-) 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > A final comment, at the last reckoning, before Xorg, the Xfree86
> project
> > was
> > larger than the Linux kernel project. Problems with X tend to be
> > considered as
> > problems with Linux, but this is not actually the case. They are two
> > separate
> > packages which are generally packaged together by distro producers.
> If
> > you get
> > a text prompt, your Linux is probably fine. Not that that is much
> > consolation
> > :-)
> > 
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > 
> > Brent
> > 
> > 
>