[sf-lug] Sunday meeting at the Javacat--11 AM to 1 PM

[Asheesh Laroia]

On Fri, 2 Mar 2007, Sameer Verma wrote:

> jim stockford wrote:
>> why not? it's robust and rich.
>> Fedora is richer, but not as robust.
>> i got a bad attitude toward Ubuntu just now.
>> so why not CentOS on a laptop?

I've heard CentOS called many things, but never "rich".  I haven't used it 
personally, only helped people when they've come running to me for an 
alternative.

Tell me how well-supported getting multiple programs to play audio at once 
(using e.g. pulseaudio) is on CentOS.  Tell me how well-supported sleep is 
on the most current laptops, and how much third-party software is 
available (from LyX and Firefox all the way to games like Frozen Bubble). 
Will she run into dependency hell trying to get new software installed, or 
is there a complete repository available with a point and click interface? 
Does it ship the latest (i.e., most compatible and most responsive) 
version of OpenOffice.org?

When she wants to upgrade between versions, is there a graphical utility 
that does the upgrade?  What about playing oddball media formats that she 
may run into?  How about 3D acceleration?

Will she have a large user community with whom to discuss problems when 
they arise?  Not just a large user *base*, but a large group of people 
trying to do the same things she is (run a portable personal workstation, 
rather than a tethered corporate server).

These are not fringe issues, these are core usability issues.  And they 
are surely issues of "richness".

For me, Ubuntu is #1 on these issues, and I hear Fedora is okay with them. 
The one time I saw CentOS on a laptop it was a nightmare on almost all of 
these counts, but hey, that almost half a year ago, and the CentOS version 
wasn't the current one.

> Since Jim mentioned it, I'll say that I have a particularly *good* 
> attitude toward Ubuntu [right now] :-)  I also have a good attitude 
> toward Fedora [right now] for running it on my servers.

I have the same feeling as Sameer on Ubuntu, and I run Debian on my 
servers. (-:

-- Asheesh.

-- 
Q:	Why do people who live near Niagara Falls have flat foreheads?
A:	Because every morning they wake up thinking "What *is* that noise?
 	Oh, right, *of course*!