Re: [Hampshire] Ubuntu + Debian

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:59:39 +0000
Tony Whitmore <tony@???> wrote:

> > I don't use firefox a lot, other than to get to sites that for
> > some stupid reason don't accept my preferred browse which is of
> > course Opera and my only real use for Oo is to open M$word/exell
> > docs I get sent, tho' I do use it to write a very occasional
> > letter when I am p****d of with the LA or other 'them type' body.
>
> Well, substitute Firefox with whatever application you depend on.
> Sylpheed or Geneweb perhaps.

I don't think Geneweb has ever failed me, that it doesn't get many
upgrades is perhaps the reason but there aren't all that many
bugs listed.

Sylpheed-claws-gtk2 is also pretty stable, the worst problem was when
a lib it depended on got upgraded but this got fixed pretty damm
quick. A day without emails is actually welcome so I wasn't too
bothered when this happened.

> > However I do think distros like ubuntu provide too many packages
> > for newbies(2)
>
> By the same argument Debian is surely also unsuitable for newbies?
> It has the most packages of any distribution.

I have not said Debian is suitable for newbies anyway, tho' I think
the new installer makes it easy to install compared to the
"delightful" one that came with woody. And of course the plenitude of
packages is why so many distros are based on it :-)

> >too many for me come to that) something that Linspire set
> > out to overcome by only providing a small sub-set of what is
> > available from the outset.
>
> Well the standard Ubuntu distribution provides one of everything.
> Users aren't overwhelmed with multiple competing applications:
> * Firefox for web browsing
> * Evolution for mail / calendaring
> * OO.o for word processing, spreadsheet, presentations
> * Rhythmbox for music playback
> * Totem for video playback
> * Gaim for IM
> * etc. etc.

That wasn't really the impression I got from trying the one version
that would run on my Celeron 633 box. There seemed to be loads of
stuff that would puzzle a newbie.

> > (2) too many for me come to that, one of the reasons I like Debian
> > is that it is possible to install only the base system, than add a
> > personal selection of packages. Other distros I have played with
> > recently don't seem to allow that approach.
>
> You can totally do a CLI-only install with Ubuntu. Take a look at
> the "Alternate" install CD or "server" install CD. There is even an
> unofficial Ubuntu release that provides a full CLI environment with
> useful programs, if you're interested:

I haven't tried those CDs and they aren't obvious from the links I
followed to get the ubuntu isos, tho I was aware from comments made
on the list that the alternate CD did exist

I am hoping this mailing will get to the list, my last 3 attempts
have been refused

--
John Lewis
Debian Linux with Geneweb genealogy application