[Linux-Anyway] Mandrake-bashing (was: refugee)
- From: Godwin Stewart <gstewart@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Linux-Anyway@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 12:21:27 +0200
Mon, 13 Oct 2003 05:24:37 -0400 scripsit HaywireMac:
> Well, I can't complain in that regard either...
>
> This is my P166 server:
>
> 05:13:22 up 34 days, 23:18, 1 user, load average: 0.88, 1.16, 1.48
You've been very lucky.
Maybe it's because you're using such tried and tested hardware. Most of the
Mdk setups I've seen have been on P-III machines and not one has lasted more
than a few hours without something unexpected (and unpleasant) happening,
usually in kernel space.
> Like I said in another post, it was up for 90 days til the big blackout,
> I was seriously pissed about that, LOL!
The ironic thing about here is that I live only a few miles from the local
nuclear power station. In fact I've never lived so close to the point where
the electricity I use is generated. Nor have I ever had such an unreliable
power supply...
> > Fair enough, as long as you realise that you're only seeing the part
> > of Linux that Mandrake wants you to see. In some ways, Mandrake is to
> > Linux what Windows is to DOS: a fancy but dumbed down GUI which
> > doesn't let you get your hands into the innards of the system.
>
> Howz that? I try to configure everything by hand, ie. from the command
> line, I don't use Webmin or the Wizards to config Postfix or Apache or
> anything for that matter. I'm familiar with just about everything in
> /etc, I don't see where they're hiding anything from me.
In that case you're one big step closer to getting along with a more open
distribution. Hand editing /etc/* is fine as long as you NEVER EVER touch
the GUI tools again because they will clobber your hand-crafted
configuration and replace it with what they think is appropriate.
> The *only* complaint I have, and I don't know if this is
> Mandrake-specific or not, is the sound. I constantly have problems with
> XMMS or MPlayer not releasing /dev/dsp, so when I go to play Quake, I
> get no sound, and no matter what I do, I end up in a lot of cases having
> to reboot.
I've used MPlayer to play back DVD's and it released /dev/dsp2 (in my case)
no trouble. /dev/dsp2 is a symlink to the audio channel of my DXR3 MPEG2
decoder board.
However, I did compile MPlayer from the source available at mplayerhq.hu
rather than looking for a package. I think you can safely assume that Mdk
have thoughtfully patched MPlayer for you and broken something.
> IIRC, I have seen mention that Slack handles sound differently, it that
> true?
Any Linux distro can handle sound in any manner. It also depends on your
sound hardware - some sound cards are handled by OSS, some are not.
As far as my hardware is concerned, it's a SoundBlaster 128PCI (Ensoniq
ES1371 under the hood), which is pretty crappy to be honest.
To be honest I've never really delved into multimedia. The only time I'm
aware of any sound coming out of the computer is when the TV set is switched
on and I'm playing a DVD. The rest of the time there isn't any active audio
hardware attached to the computer so I don't even know what's going on - if
anything.
> And what about package management, Slack, I've been told, is pretty much
> strictly source-based.
Slack does have its own rudimentary package management system which is used
during the installation and which you can use to upgrade the distro. If you
can find Slackware packages (.tgz files) for other pieces of software you
want to install at a later date then nothing's to stop you doing that, but
not many people provide Slackware packages. You can also use rpm if you're
that much of a sucker for pain - it's provided on the installation CD.
This said, working from source is so much easier on Slack than on RH/Mdk
because things are in standard directories to start with and you don't have
to fight with experimental compilers (all the distros which used RH's gcc
2.96 were practically unusable in that sense). As well-known Californian
computer manufacturer is fond of saying, "it just works".
> Would you recommend Slack over Gentoo?
Today, yes. After I've had a chance to play with Gentoo, I don't know. Your
best bet it to ask people who've played with both.
--
G. Stewart -- gstewart@xxxxxxxxxxx -- gstewart@xxxxxxxxxxx
Registered Linux user #284683 (Slackware 9.0)
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