Jan Panteltje wrote:>Buy a good book on Unix, get to learn the commands, the file structure, the X server...[More good advise deleted] Thanks, but you are preaching to the choir. I begun using Unix on PDP-11's, X on VAX Stations and '386 PCs running Kodak's Unix. ("Interactive Unix", 16 Mbyte RAM all for myself!) First X programming on LynxOs, then VAX-VMS. (Am I the last person left that likes Motif?) First Linux I used was Yggdrasil, with periodic attacks of Debian, Gentoo, RedHat,Suse,Ubuntu,(and NetBSD,FreeBSD,Solaris.) File server runs FreeNAS. And "root" is my middle name... ;) I was interested in which distributions are preferred by technically-oriented users, which I expect to be more interested in issues such as stability, availability of packages, etc, and less impressed by "eye-candy" modifications. This is just scientific curiosity - I am not doing any programming (or OS switching) at the time. -- Roberto Waltman [ Please reply to the group, return address is invalid ]
Cortex M3/M4 with bootloader ROM
Started by ●October 4, 2013
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
Hi Roberto, On 10/8/2013 6:32 AM, Roberto Waltman wrote:> Cross posting to sci.electronics.design > > What linux distros do techies like?Consider the *BSDs, as well. I've been running NetBSD/FreeBSD since ~'93 (v 0.8) and have been very happy with the lack of "two steps forward, one step sideways and step back" that seems to plague Linux folks. Of course, I have no need for the bloated "desktops" -- just a good, *lean* window manager and reliable OS beneath it. (Note the BSD's aren't "just a kernel" so you end up with much of what a Linux distro would include *just* by installing the "OS". "Packages" sit on top of that) But, I only use it for writing applications and OS's (though I do rely on many of the standard services for my infrastructure, here). Any CAD, EDA, DTP, modeling, numerical analysis, etc. work happens on a Windows machine (I doubt the free OS's will *ever* catch up in terms of quality and choice of offerings). YMMV. I haven't played with FreeBSD in many years -- it started trending towards the "desktop" market when I left (v2.2?) and I was more interested in "getting work done" than continuing to support an evolution in a direction that didn't serve my needs (I was a frequent FBSD contributor). Also, I am not keen on wasting my time upgrading OS's and apps (that time comes out of *my* pocket and I'd rather spend any "free time" on stuff that I *want* to do -- not "mowing the digital lawn"). No more so than a carpenter wants to spend his time buying hammers! :-/ So, I will run an OS for many years before deciding that I *should* feel embarassed! :) Like any tool, I want to be able to use it when I need it and forget about it the rest of the time. E.g., the little box that serves up TFTP, NTP, FTP, HTTP, DNS, fonts, and acts as a lightweight "software development server" (i.e., let me write and compile code -- just no grueling "builds") here has an uptime of about a year now that it's on a *tiny* UPS. Previously, it would "go down" each time I turned off its branch circuit to make wiring changes, etc. (It would have been longer had I not opted to upgrade the OS in it) I don't think the box draws more than 20W so it runs damn near forever on a small UPS! Even a trivial memory leak would surely have panicked that 128MB! (new box will be even leaner and run off "flashlight batteries" :> ) OTOH, if you like playing on the bleeding edge, there are lots of folks intent on mucking around just to "see how THIS works"... Pick something that suits your needs, offers the reliability you are looking for and the amount of "hassle" you are willing to tolerate. (alternatively, the amount of *chaos* you seek!) Good Luck! --don
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
On 10/8/2013 8:41 AM, Phil Hobbs wrote:> On 10/8/2013 9:32 AM, Roberto Waltman wrote: >> Cross posting to sci.electronics.design >> >> What linux distros do techies like? >> >> R. >> >> >> Roberto Waltman wrote: >>> David Brown wrote: >>>> ... I use Linux for most of my work and play. >>> >>> Just curious - Which Linux distribution do you use? >>> >>> I used Ubuntu for several years, but I'm not sure I want to follow >>> Canonical in whatever path they want to take it. >>> >>> Thinking of switching to Scientific Linux (Fedora) when I get back to >>> "work and play." (Crunchbang Linux is also in the run.) > > Being a vanilla sort of guy, I mostly use CentOS 6. I'm more of a KDE > fan, though, so there are occasional curiosities that I haven't invested > the time in fixing--for instance, clicking on a link in kmail doesn't > open it correctly in Firefox. > > I have an old P4 box that's running Kubuntu. The main thing I disliked > about Ubuntu when I used it last is that it doesn't play nicely with > the other children--if I set up disk partitions on cylinder boundaries > for other OSes, and tell it to use the existing partitions, it > nevertheless insists on futzing with the partition table to save a > quarter of a cylinder. I like computers that do as they're bloody well > told.Absolutely! I hate it when it thinks it knows more than me, even if it does.> Cheers > > Phil Hobbs >
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
On Tue, 08 Oct 2013 09:32:46 -0400 Roberto Waltman <usenet@rwaltman.com> wrote:> Cross posting to sci.electronics.design > > What linux distros do techies like? > > R. > > > Roberto Waltman wrote: > >David Brown wrote: > >> ... I use Linux for most of my work and play. > > > >Just curious - Which Linux distribution do you use? > > > >I used Ubuntu for several years, but I'm not sure I want to follow > >Canonical in whatever path they want to take it. > > > >Thinking of switching to Scientific Linux (Fedora) when I get back to > >"work and play." (Crunchbang Linux is also in the run.)I like Xubuntu quite a bit, and run it both at work and home. Ubuntu as an underlying layer brings a lot of advantages, and trading GNOME3+Unity+whateverelse out in favor of the very traditional, clean Xfce is a huge win. -- Rob Gaddi, Highland Technology -- www.highlandtechnology.com Email address domain is currently out of order. See above to fix.
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
mike <ham789@netzero.net> writes:> On 10/8/2013 7:00 AM, John Devereux wrote: >> Roberto Waltman <usenet@rwaltman.com> writes: >> >>> Cross posting to sci.electronics.design >>> >>> What linux distros do techies like? >>> >> >> Debian on my main machine (since 1999 or so). >> >> kubuntu on my laptop, but I don't really like the way Ubuntu is going >> either... >> >> > It's like the weather. Wait and it will be all different anyway. > Just pick the one with the least overlap between what you need and > what's busted. > > If you're experienced with Ubuntu and like the way it works, > why change anything at all? Don't fix it if it ain't broke.Oh yes I'm persevering with it. But I got the impression that the OP was asking for advice for a new system, not sure I would recommend it if it is about to turn into Ubuntu Phone OS. :) But really they are all fine for me, they all run gcc, openocd, emacs, gdb, thunderbird, firefox, VirtualBox etc etc. And in fact Ubuntu worked great out of the box on the laptop, even all the weird little extra buttons and special function keys. Things that would take a day of ferretting out drivers for a bare-metal windows install. -- John Devereux
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
On Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:09:06 +0000, Grant Edwards wrote:> On 2013-10-08, Roberto Waltman <usenet@rwaltman.com> wrote: >> Cross posting to sci.electronics.design >> >> What linux distros do techies like? > > Genoo.Gentoo? IT techies maybe, but the average user (which could well be an electronics guru but not an IT one) would find annoying spending too much time tweaking it. For the OP (couldn't find the original post) here are lots of distros to choose from http://distrowatch.com/ My personal choice: Debian, and stay away from *buntu.
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
On 2013-10-08, asdf <asdf@nospam.com> wrote:> On Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:09:06 +0000, Grant Edwards wrote: > >> On 2013-10-08, Roberto Waltman <usenet@rwaltman.com> wrote: >>> Cross posting to sci.electronics.design >>> >>> What linux distros do techies like? >> >> Genoo. > > Gentoo? > IT techies maybe, but the average user (which could well be an > electronics guru but not an IT one) would find annoying spending > too much time tweaking it.Perhaps. I've find that in the long run, maintaining Gentoo systems requires less time/effort than maintining RPM or .deb based distros. It does, however, require a little more knowlege. But, it probably depends on what you want to do with the computer. If all you want to do is stuff that the distribution bundler's have already thought of and included software for, then I'd probably go with Debian or Xubuntu. Any time you end up wanting to use software that's not available as part of the basic distro, I've found that maintining rpm/deb based systems tends to balloon into a large, frustrating job. -- Grant Edwards grant.b.edwards Yow! ONE LIFE TO LIVE for at ALL MY CHILDREN in ANOTHER gmail.com WORLD all THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES.
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
To the OP: I'm a fedora guy for going on 8 years now. Jan Panteltje <pNaonStpealmtje@yahoo.com> writes:> [...] > So maybe stick with some form of Debian for now? > Buy a good book on Unix, get to learn the commands, the file structure, the X server, do not get fooled by all that mousing > that is done in window managers to copy-cat sort of a MS desktop. > Imitating idiots does not bring you anything useful.I like the way you think.> The command line, scripting, xterm is the user interface.Yes!> Do not be afraid to be root, just think before you hit enter....Again, right-on. I get so tired of the "community" pushing sudo. Just "su -" and git 'er done. -- Randy Yates Digital Signal Labs http://www.digitalsignallabs.com
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
Randy Yates wrote:>> Do not be afraid to be root, just think before you hit enter.... > >Again, right-on. I get so tired of the "community" pushing sudo. Just >"su -" and git 'er done.What's wrong with sudo -i -H ? ;) (after modifying /etc/sudoers to *not* ask for passwords) -- Roberto Waltman [ Please reply to the group, return address is invalid ]
Reply by ●October 8, 20132013-10-08
On 10/08/13 13:32, Roberto Waltman wrote:> Cross posting to sci.electronics.design > > What linux distros do techies like? > > R. > > > Roberto Waltman wrote:I've used Suse for years. Works out of the box, has a pro os feel, is well supported and robust. That and a minimum of superfluous decoration on initial install. Suse is quality and just very well sorted, just like an Audi, with no obvious snags, Also like Debian, which is has support for a wider than average range of architectures including Sun Sparc. Have Debian running on a laptop for remote debugging and on a Sun V240 Sparc system. Consistent and identical install and user experience across both architectures. A bit more work than Suse for admin, but rock solid throughout. Ubuntu looked like a video game last time I looked at it and Redhat is just hard work :-). For firewall, pfSense - ime, the best open source firewall around :-)... Chris -- Embedded System Hardware & Software Engineering Oxford England 44 (0)1865 437 787 ** Remove the meaning of life to reply...
