I want to apologize for the lack of posting and replying to comments. We are adjusting to a new work and life schedule here at my house. Now, my work schedule has stayed the same, but I don't go online every night to check email or browse websites or post blog entries. Because of that I haven't replied to many postings. I'd like to provide some thoughts on my experiences with Linux and reply to some comments that have been left regarding my apt-get for SuSE install.
Firstly, and I think everyone knows this, Linux is here to stay. Both in the server and desktop markets. No matter what Microsoft does or doesn't do it's not going away. Since I don't have an interest in the server market other than as a remote web server I will refrain from commenting on server/enterprise issues. There are several Linux distributions out there that focus on the desktop. Mandrake and SuSE are two that come to mind immediately that are successful. I had installed Mandrake in the past and enjoyed the experience. SuSE was installed on my system on 30 Dec. 2003 and stayed installed until just about a week ago. Both of those distributions are well suited to the general desktop user.
My most recent Linux install was with MEPIS. MEPIS is a Debian-based distribution that not only focuses on the desktop user, but also has a business formed around it. In fact, the author of MEPIS just stated in an interview that he's now able to pay the bills with MEPIS. That's a success story no matter what your business is. :) I am extremely happy with MEPIS so far. I will write more specifically about my experiences with this distribution as I get into it more.
On another note, my wife uses MS Windows exclusively. Her reasons are with Windows she can get the work done she wants to do with a minimal of hassle. I can't fault her there at all. It takes me about twice as long to do any task on Linux right now because I'm still learning how to do all my daily tasks. Give me a couple of months and I'll probably be as fast with Linux as with Windows. My wife also has some games that she likes to play. Most of them are Linux compatible, but a few (of course the ones she likes the most) are only for Windows. No big deal. :) Anything for my wife.
As for the comments left for my post on installing apt4rpm on SuSE... The best place to get the sources.list file is from the SuSE apt4rpm site. I had to take that line for SuSE 9.0 and split it into two lines. My apt program couldn't parse the file because the deb ..... line was too long. That might fix some of the problems you are experiencing, Martin. Finally, since I am not using SuSE any longer I won't be able to provide any first-hand advice and I would refer you to the SuSE apt4rpm site as well as the original apt4rpm site.
And finally a note about my updates. As my family, church and work schedule are about the only things going on in my life this blog will probably take a backseat to everything else. I will promise to everyone that I will post at least once a week. I do find at least that much time in a week. It's usually on a Sunday afternoon between church services :). Please continue to read and comment on anything and everything you see here.
Thank you to those who do read and post comments.
May God Bless you richly,
will
Posted at February 16, 2004 10:36 PMHello. I used to use SuSE 8.2, but recently switched to Mepis. I love the apt-get utility. However, I cannot seem to get the web server going. I have started Apache, loaded my website into the default directory (/var/www) and messed around with Guarddog. No luck. Can you think of what I might be doing wrong?
Posted by: Mark Grieveson at March 12, 2004 02:06 PM from 65.92.174.52