Redhat 7 vs. Debian

[Entity]

For educational purposes at my work (we're switching our Solaris boxes to Linux Mosix Clusters running Debian), we're using Debian as our Linux OS. For these reasons and more, I'm going to be installing Linux at home...and I'm debating between Debian 2.2.18 and Redhat 7.

Any suggestions? Pros vs. Cons? And what desktop manager should I run?

I know this is going to sound vague, but I just want some basic recommendations...I'm not going to be doing much besides learning the OS for the time being, so specific use concerns don't really apply.

thanks,
Rob

 

[BOFH]

Redhat makes a better desktop system for most people. That said, I would seriously consider running debian since it will be what you have at work and you can learn the ins and outs faster if you're not learning two different systems and packaging systems. I prefer WindowMaker as a desktop myself, but KDE and Gnome can both be usefull

 

[extra]

maybe this isn't the kind of answer your looking for, but: debian!!
why? apt-get
'nuff said

window manager? KDE2

why? because the konqueror web browser SUCKS LESS than netscape..way less...and the font is actually readable...

 

[BOFH]

Hate to bust your bubble, but apt-get is available for RPM based systems now. and NS6/Mozilla have decent font handling and if you toss some ttf fonts and some others into X NS 4.x looks ok also

 

[Damaged]

BOFH, true. However the overall dependcies are still better in .debs than they are in .rpms.

Personally I prefer Helix-Gnome and Sawfish for a WM though. As far as a browser goes...Opera is finally useable and at least as stable as any version of Netscape/Mozilla. Admittedly Opera is still a work in progress.

 

[BOFH]

I know .debs are usually implemented better. Its part of the reason I run Debian on some servers. I used Helix(can't type that other name) and SawFish some, but went screaming back to WM Another problem with Opera, I cannot stand the MDI they do. I tend to open 10-20 browser windows as I go around the web. This isn't practical with how Opera works. The two things that have me using Mozilla as my main browser now are cookie management and blocking of most banner adds. Konqueror is comming along nicely and might be another good one for me soon.

 

[20_MuleTeam_Borax]

Check out the Font NHF at http://www.linuxnewbie.org. It should fix your Netscape font woes.

 

[jbird]

The following opinions are those of a newbie with expienence installin Red Hat 5.2 & 6.1, Debian 2.x, Corel Linix and Mandrake 6.0.

I started out installing RH 5.2 on an old 486 50 mhz with 20 mb ram and a 250 mb hd. The manual was excellent. This allowed me to get a handle on all the new concepts that installing a new os brings. Next I tried RH 6.1 without much luck. Corel was ok. Mandrake 6.0 was the easiest to install and configure.

If you are running Debian at work, then it makes sense to run it at home. The installation is not for the faint at heart. You need to know specific hardware information to get the OS / System up an running (God forbid, some might even suggest that you use Winblows 98 to obtain that information).

You didn't say your experience level. If you are a newbie, I would suggest Mandrake for its ease of installation. But some might say that the pain and confusion of installation is part of the learning process (that true to a degree). If you don't have the time nor inclination to examine everything under the hood, then Mandrake is your best bet.

Best wishes on your new adventure.

 

[Fokks]

jbird mentioned COREL which might be a good idea. It's based on Debian, but makes the install and home use a little more painless. A caveat is that I've heard it does scale out some functionality from a standard Debian install.

good luck

 

[Entity]

I'm up and running Debian. It was simple.

Rob