[nzlug] Dell are sooo pwn3d

[Denise Bates]

Dirk Pilat wrote:
> 
> On 29/06/2007, at 6:03 PM, Denise Bates wrote:
> 
>>  Ubuntu isn't my kettle of fish: I can think of at least three major 
>> shortcomings which make it quite unacceptable to me.
> 
> Mmmh. This is very interesting and I would love to hear them, as I 
> harbour a little grudge against Ubuntu as well (mainly due to it's 
> security probs), that nevertheless doesn't keep me from using it on 2 of 
> my machines at home.

At the risk of being accused of indulging in a "distro-war", I 
regard the following shortcomings of Ubuntu as sufficient reason 
to reject it for my own use:
* Inflexible installation procedure: I want to be able to install 
_only_ the packages that I need, and/or to tailor the installation 
to suit the limitations of a particular machine (HD space, memory, 
etc). I have found that Ubuntu simply refuses to install on 
low-specced machines.
* The lack of a regular "root" account: Having to muck about with 
Sudo is clumsy and too damn slow.
* Difficult, inconsistent configuration: I concede that e-lists 
such as this one provide commendable support for configuration 
problems, but I would prefer to avoid mucking around in the first 
place.
* The default kernel configuration is too demanding of resources.
* Lack of KDE: OK, there is Kubuntu, but I find Gnome doesn't come 
anywhere near to KDE in functionality (e.g. Gnome dial-up support 
is clumsy). And, as several people who have acquired, and 
experimented with a Ubuntu CD remind me, Gnome is so ugly!

I don't have a desire to knock the work of Ubuntu developers per 
se, but the evangelistic promotion of this one distro as the 
generic version of Linux is irritating.

> The only machine in my network where security plays an important part 
> due to various reasons, runs OpenBSD (me being a Theo fanboy)

I also like the approach of FreeBSD (and NetBSD for odd-ball 
hardware). If I didn't have a head-start in learning Linux, I 
would be quite content with BSD. I currently use BSD 
intermittently, partly as a learning experience, but my serious 
academic work is entrusted to Linux.

regards,
*********************************************
Dr Denise J. Bates,
PO Box 50,
Meremere 2441
New Zealand
E-mail: dbates at iconz.co.nz
Telephone 09-2336433
Mobile 021-2541330
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