is fedora for me ?

[John Walsh]

Hi,

As a current RedHat Linux 9.0 user - I'm wondering if Fedora is the 
replacement for me ?

If it is, then I'll try to contribute any way I can, which would probably 
come down to helping
newbies out with things that I've got working - so I understand how to 
configure them...


Anyway - I would describe myself as a 'home user', who is lucky enough to 
have a fixed IP
connection (because thats what I wanted) and runs a web server with a small 
internal network.

Although I am a software developer - I did not want to get into a 'techi' 
relationship with
Linux - I just wanted a system which will work. I don't mind doing 
configuration, but I didn't
want to be chasing problems... I would love to see Linux more widely used, 
and so 'just working'
is an important feature for that to happen, and as it does happen, I feel 
more confident in
recomending Linux to other (none technical) users.

Reasons why I choose RedHat to start with (3 years ago):

very good installer,
updates available (up2date),
modern kernel (modular, USB support),
works reliably (just as I wanted above),


My other options would be:

RH Enterprise WS - not designed to be a server ?

RH Enterprise ES - all that I need (?), but expensive.


I did try Debian - but the installer is not very helpful, and it simpy 
crashes or only lets me
install such an old version of Linux that its of no use to me.


Having read the goals for Fedora, it looks like a good option for me.

My only concern is the frequency of new releases and if this means that I 
will need to
re-install at the same rate - and how that effects me keeping my server 
going with all
its history (eg. mailman lists... which I am new to, so have not been 
through an upgrade
yet, but I did find and half fix a bug in it).

In fact, on the subject of doing re-installs (for an upgrade), I have a 
suggestion. Would it
be possible to create a floppy disc with your install options stored on it, 
so that when you
come to do your next install, you can pop in the floppy and click the button 
'get options
from floppy' ? It would save having to go through the package list every 
time... although
there may be some changes between releases, but I'm sure that can be flagged 
to the
user, who can then sort it out....

Or, is it possible to create a minimal list of all the 'top level' RPM's, 
such that selecting just those
would force all the dependencies to be installed too...


So, if anyone has any wise words for me, or advice as to which Linux I 
should choose,
it would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John.

ps. I have downloaded the 3 CD ISO's, and will do a trial install (on 
seperate drives) to see
how well it all works now... and I'll happily report some feedback, even if 
its all working with
no problems at all - always good to hear...

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