geno said: > A 7-disk set of Debian costs approximately one-third the $50. price of > the comparable low-documents SuSE package. > Other than price, what is the attraction of Debian over Red Hat, SuSE or > Mandrake? 1. Political points about being truly free may not matter that much but for many it is one of Debian's attractions that we a volunteer community. No take-overs, no clubs to avoid bankruptcy, no messy upgrades that force you to buy new disks every year. Debian is permanent - it will always be there and that';s nice to know when you choose a distro.
2. Related to this is that if you install Debian and have a decent connection, the software is always up to date. apt-get update && apt-get upgrade is all it takes. I run it once a month. 3. As that ease of management makes clear, Debian is a quality effort. IMO, the volunteer spirit helps here. If you do something as a volunteer and your goal is to help others, you won't waste time on creating complex upgrade paths that force people to give your employer money. You will want to produce something that is good and will last. 4. A final point also relates to the volunteer spirit - Debain development is slow. Getting CDs in the shops for Xmas just doesn't matter. Having software that meets the standard you set for yourself matters more. In real terms, this means that bleeding edge stuff doesn't get into Debian until Red Hat users have done a lot of the bleeding. There's more but the most important is... 5. This list. Have a problem, post it and answers come in thick and fast (well, more fast than thick). Who else has that level of free support? Best of all, you get to share your experience and be part of the community by helping. Good lord, its ten past six - time to leave work! -- Patrick GSM: 07876 560 646 Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you find a rock -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
