[svlug] Linux an "upstart"?

[Steve Hindle]

Hmm... we seem to have different ideas of a what a 'desktop user' is and 
what constitutes 'server' software.

You specifically mention Apache, IMAP, and a few other that definately fall 
in the 'server' category, IMHO.  How many 'desktop users' do you know that 
run there own mail and web servers?  Typically they get these services from 
their ISP (or the IT guys at work handle it for them, if its for the 
office).  Other things you mention such as crossover office, are definately 
focused at the 'desktop user'.

So I would be curious to know: How much trouble do you have with more 
traditional desktop apps Vs. server apps?  For Agruements sake, lets 
consider desktop apps to be things such as OpenOffice (Office 
Productivity), Evolution (Email apps), Gimp, games, etc.
The sorts of thing you find installed on a typical home or office
pc.  In the server category, lets look at things such as mail services( 
both MTA such as sendmail/postfix and mail stores such as POP3 and IMAP), 
web services, VPN's, etc.  There are some 'in-between' services such as 
firewalling and Samba - but lets skip them for now.  With these sorts of 
definitions - How much trouble do you have with desktop apps and how much 
with server apps ?

btw - the reason I'm so interested is this is it's how I make my living. 
I've had plenty of contracts to install 'services' but I've never had a job 
to install end-user stuff.  Just wondering if maybe I should expand my 
service offerings.

Oh - in regards to Debian.  Requiring a month to learn to use something 
doesn't mean its an 'upstart' or its not 'easy to use'.  All products have 
a learning curve.  New users require much more then a month to learn ANY 
computer system - windows, MacOS/OS X, Linux, etc.  For instance, how long 
does it take most people to figure out where to store new document 
templates in Office - to make them available from the main selection 
screen? Let alone the in's and outs of where things are set/stored.

I have to agree, Debian's installer shows it's age.  Distro's like Corel, 
and Storm really had much nicer ones (*sigh* I miss Storm Linux).  As for 
the old packages thing - just change your apt sources file to pull newer 
ones.  Debian defaults to pulling from 'stable', but there are also 
unstable, and testing - plus nightly builds from many projects. Throw them 
in the sources list, and off you go :-) It's just a matter of how close to 
the bleeding edge you want to live.


Steve



--On Saturday, July 19, 2003 1:15 PM -0700 James Leone 
<linuxcpa at netscape.net> wrote:

> That's just an example of my point, for the desktop, Linux is upstart.
>
> James Leone
>
>



Stephen Hindle
I.T. Sage
"Enlightened Solutions for Open Minds"
http://www.itsage.com