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Originally posted by Vaskez:
What I never got was what's the different between Debian-based and Red-hat based distributions. I mean ok, they're based on slightly different schools of thought but functionally what's different?
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The biggest difference between Debian and RedHat is the way they are packaged and distributed. (If anyone askes, RPM sucks! apt-get rules!)
The biggest advantage of Debian is the way that it's installed on your machine - while you can still download all five cds and install Debian from them, the slickest way is to pick one of the five cds that boots the configuration you need (the vast majority of people will use the first cd, some with exotic configs like USB keyboards and mice will use cd 5)
You then install EVERYTHING ELSE from the NET! One of the biggest advantages of this approach is that you always get the latest versions of the applications you're installing. And apt-get will resolve dependencies for you, that is to say if Package A needs Package B to install, and Package B needs Packages C and D, then apt-get will automatically download all four packages for you when you install Package A.
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Also I was gonna download Redhat but it's 5 CDs and even on ADSL I can't be bothered to download that right now so I downloaded BestLinux which fits on one CD. But it's like what??? Even Windows XP Pro comes on one CD so what the hell can RedHat put on 5 CDs??
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Both RH and Debian package every possible piece of Linux software available. They all use the same kernel (in fact, you can get a kernel from Linus himself and build your own Linux distro if you want). As of last time I counted, Debian has over 8500 different software packages available in their distribution - you will install only a small portion of these on your system.
You might want to use
Knoppix to start trying Linux, a lot of people like it's method of installation and it's only one CD as well. (It's a compilation of Debian apps).
After getting the hang of Knoppix, you can then graduate to Debian and the full package.
EDIT> spelling
[ 01-18-2003, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: Sir Krustin ]