[plug] Debian .vs. Gentoo

[indy at THE-TECH.MIT.EDU]

First, I'll note that before writing up the first Distro Day article I
did quite extensive research on other quantitive tests of processor
specific optimizations (as occur in Gentoo.) I found no hard evidence
one way or the other. This should tell you something, which
is... Worrying unduly about i686 isn't worth the effort. Concentrate
on the driver revisions and settings for your hardware, it'll get you
further. 


If bleeding edges are at issue in terms of "packages" then you have 3
basic options :

Debian, Gentoo, Red Hat/Mandrake/SuSE

They're all good, have different characters, find the one that suits
your personality and use it.

BUT... Debian unstable and Gentoo are both uncomfortable to use over
dialup as the updating and package fetching requirements were
obviously designed by people who have broadband. Possible solutions
are :

Pick an RPM based distro as they tend to get software packaged up
quickly by the software creators. Of these probably pick Mandrake as
they release updated CD's more often than the others it seems.

Alternatively, accept that nightly dialup is necessary and be
religious in your use of apt or emerge to make sure you never end up
having to download huge chunks. Some people can do this happily,
others can't, depends on your personality in the end.

<shrug> If you truly have restricted bandwidth, bleeding edge Linux is
beyond your reach, as it is beyond mine.


Indy

-- 
Indranath Neogy
<indy at the-tech.mit.edu>

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