Easy to use/install (was Re: [Novalug] Community contribution)

[Beartooth]

On Tue, 22 Jan 2008, greg pryzby wrote:

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> I would be interest in know what others think of Ubuntu (gutsy 
> 7.10) and if it meets that goal.
>
> I put my Mac family in front of it and they can work. I drivers 
> are there and there is a notice when you need to update.
 	[snipperoo]

 	Well, I can't speak to other releases, but synaptic on 
7.10 breaks things down into separate apps to a much greater 
degree than the RH/F approach; there's a separate entry for 
Konqueror, to give only one example.

 	This means it takes a lot longer to go through the whole 
blessed list, looking for things you know or want to try, and 
things you're sure you don't want; but if you're stubborn enough 
to do it, it also means you get a *lot* of control. (I've just 
spent two or three very tedious days getting mine configured.)

 	Apart from that, however, if you don't mind retyping your 
password every time you turn around (a/o you've used Megan's 
blessed trick of giving it a root password so you can keep a root 
tab handy on your terminal), I have to admit it *has* been easy.

 	I begin to see why Ubuntu has become so popular. I have 
only one gripe so far, in fact.

 	One thing I have *not* managed to find is Ubuntu's 
equivalent to the Fedora "services" launcher, which gives you a 
GUI interface (after a root password) to 
/usr/bin/system-config-services -- nor have I found an equivalent 
to that app which I might simply run from a root tab.

 	Not having it is a royal pain. My first step, any time a 
browser starts not getting to sites it should, is to run that and 
make sure both xinetd and privoxy are running; privoxy in 
particular is apt to stop unpredictably, and I don't find the Web 
worth a tinker's click without it.

-- 
Beartooth Staffwright, Neo-Redneck Double Retiree,
Not Quite Clueless Linux Power User, with precious 
(very precious) little idea where up is.