Matt's Linux Blog
My linux problems (and their respective solutions)Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Replacing Gentoo with Ubuntu
I've used a wide array of Linux distributions since I started. First, there was DragonLinux, then came it's father, Slackware. Then I used RedHat (and then Fedora) for a while, but I got fed up with Fedora Core 2, so I moved to Debian. Since July of 2005, I have been using Gentoo, but now I'm getting fed up with even that. I've spent a couple weeks trying out new distributions to see which ones I like now.
What I want is a user-friendly system that has graphical tools for both standard end-user functionality and server functionality. I need a system that can run a decent server because I do a ton of web-application experimentation.
My main problem is that I hate something about every distribution. With Fedora, I hate the complete lack of support of any common media types. I ended up having to build my own RPM of w32codecs (so that I could play Windows media files), since everyone that hosts RPMs is scared of copyright and patent infringement. With OpenSUSE (10.2), I absolutely hated the excruciatingly slow package manager, and the fact I never could figure out when to use YaST or ZenWorks.
With Gentoo, I hate the extremely long time it takes to compile software. Also, there are no options for having a common setup already-built for me. Every time I want some software to interact, I have to set up myself. I could make my system into a wonderful system, but there are so many programs that I don't know can even interact.
I first used Ubuntu a year ago, since it was a Debian variant. I immediately liked it because it combined ease of use and ease of administration. I choose to use it now, as it is much easier to set up user-friendly programs, yet it is no harder to install a server onto than Gentoo was (it's actually a lot easier). I now use Ubuntu for my day-to-day work, but I am keeping my Gentoo partition around for my data. I don't plan to move my data over until I get my new laptop.
What I want is a user-friendly system that has graphical tools for both standard end-user functionality and server functionality. I need a system that can run a decent server because I do a ton of web-application experimentation.
My main problem is that I hate something about every distribution. With Fedora, I hate the complete lack of support of any common media types. I ended up having to build my own RPM of w32codecs (so that I could play Windows media files), since everyone that hosts RPMs is scared of copyright and patent infringement. With OpenSUSE (10.2), I absolutely hated the excruciatingly slow package manager, and the fact I never could figure out when to use YaST or ZenWorks.
With Gentoo, I hate the extremely long time it takes to compile software. Also, there are no options for having a common setup already-built for me. Every time I want some software to interact, I have to set up myself. I could make my system into a wonderful system, but there are so many programs that I don't know can even interact.
I first used Ubuntu a year ago, since it was a Debian variant. I immediately liked it because it combined ease of use and ease of administration. I choose to use it now, as it is much easier to set up user-friendly programs, yet it is no harder to install a server onto than Gentoo was (it's actually a lot easier). I now use Ubuntu for my day-to-day work, but I am keeping my Gentoo partition around for my data. I don't plan to move my data over until I get my new laptop.
Labels: distributions, gentoo, ubuntu
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