Debian, SuSE or Scientific-Linux .. which to try first ?

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nss000

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Upgrade time for my Xeon workstation. Software and hardware. Its guts are spread across my workbench with new HDD, sys.fan, RAM and front-panel port-toy ready to be installed. Still trying to find 2nd cable for (2) legacy front-panel usb ports. One's cabled & works ... but, all else I can find is the 2nd +5 volt wire! Dammme where are the other three (grnd/hi/low) usb wires ?! Did the dust-bunnies eat them?

Anyrate using my legacy system I downloaded and burned (~ 4 gig ) DVDs for three new OS variants to replace the current U_12.04 on the Xeon system. I sucked-in Debian(7?) testing, SuSE_12.3 and Scientific Linux_6.4. A U_12.4 CD stands ready to rescue any total fail, but it's all good fun. Adventure comes low- risk with an able, un-bespoke 2nd system.

I would appreciate a prudent clue for which OS variant to try first.


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Solution
amdfangirl
There is an update manger for Scientific.

However I tend to prefer CLI

yum update -y

Scientific Linux is pretty neat. Scientists are like that.

Probably the only downside to Scientific is that you should to stay within repos specifically designed for RHEL/CentOS/SciLinux.

You also have to live with the LTS version of Firefox.

And the LiveDVD has LibreOffice 3.4 pre-installed.

So if you like - LiveCD is free of LibreOffice :p

Some useful packages in the official repos
- flash-plugin
- gstreamer-ffmpeg
- ntfs-3g
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nss000

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After my failed attempts to install Scientific Linux 6.4 and Debian 7.0 I was initially delighted to find SuSE 12.3 auto-installing as I had come to expect from Ubuntu. My optimism over SusE was short-lived.

1) Network connections were not auto-magically made
2) Printer connections were not auto-magically made for my well-supported HP1300 laserjet.
3) GNOME desktop was chosen, yet not installed: instead, some cluttered non-menu structure slopped onto the screen like greasy chicken-fry steak at a waterbug-infested roadhouse. Perhaps SuSE is meant only for KDE.
3a) Whatever UI **was** installed littered the screen with large, cartoonish icons while concealing basic functions like available programs, accessing terminal, modding toolbars and choosing windows & workspaces.
4) Adding programs thru std. tool **YAST** proved a non-trivial exercise. <ex> Could not get OPERA or CHROME browsers. Nothing like the **solid** obvious SYNAPTIC motif.
4a) though accessed, multi-media support failed for DVDs. Yes I did pick TRON as my test-case.

Briefly, integrating my SuSE 12.3 experience ... the beaver does **nothing** brilliantly, displays no "feel" for what is important to a desktop user and contrawise performs many tasks poorly ..... SuSE = FAIL!

Clear enough?



 
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ksham

ksham

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1. Easy to fix.

2. Easy to fix.

3. AFAIK, Debian Wheezy doesn't start with GNOME but KDE. I'm not sure what the other two use. You can install your own window manager. There are tons better than GNOME and KDE in my opinion.

4. Haha yeah. They're not the best. I generally compile and make them myself.
 
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amdfangirl

amdfangirl

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Haha, on the KDE side of things - Mageia is pretty user friendly. Only 1 year of updates though.

nss000, I forgot that Scientific Linux might not work on newer hardware... hmm...

Probably stick with Ubuntu/Mint or whatever you were using before.
 
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amdfangirl

amdfangirl

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I personally hate the DVD installer.

Anaconda works like this when you press install:

-> Create/Destroy/Modify partitions -> Install Scientific

You stopped it before it finished -> Hence it can't boot

With the LiveCD it is self-contained full installation (does not require two DVDs - and for some reason the default installation assumes you have both DVDs).
 
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nss000

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1) Yes I did struggle & got SuSE on-da-web ... but UBUNTU does that automagically
2) You error (historically) in claiming that ANY CUPS failure is trivial
3) During install SuSE gave me two (2) choices: KDE or GNOME. When I pick UIs I expect to get "the breed", not some snarling snagletoothed mongrel whelp!

Back-in-the-day I did experiment with SuSE_7.3 ... to no better effect. It was THAT failure pushed me onto the first successful usrland Linux, RedHat_6.



 
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nss000

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Hummm ...

Since SuSE is a gonner, I may give your SL **liveCD** a try ... is that just another DLoad and burn ? Can you install to system HDD from that liveCD if so desired??



 
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nss000

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Many thanks. That *liveDVD.iso (2.4 gig) is DLoading as I type.



 
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sam_p_lay

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I take it back then - stick with Linux! If you're not a fan of big-and-dumb, you probably won't like Apple's current OS...
 
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I just booted the SL_6.4 *liveDVD. No muss/fuss/drama; a pleasant case of exceeded expectations! Comfy GNOME-2 UI appears @ 2560x1440 thankyou with a smidge of additions. It casually found all the drives, and the network; on FFox punched out HUMBLE-PIEs *30-days-in-the-hole* on UTUBE without effort. Then it did CHEESE while I mugged, go-fished for a printer, found the HP and printed a correct test page and "shesellseashellsatthe ..." etcetc.

My gawd can SL_6.4 be this effortlessly workable ?? Pure no BS function! I'm tempted to put-it-on the HDD tonight, but think I'll play a bit more. Is there a gotcha to all this clean function ?! Mebby it explodes when it hits the HDD ... and I DO see the //install// prompt.

OKey alright enough of this OZland! Come clean my dear Ms AMD_gurl. If SL were as good as the liveDVD makes it appear then everybody in the world would be using it! What's the catch? Does only **ONE** app-server exist for SL in the world and that run by the Kazaks mafia ? What IS the application "front-end" and how are updates handled ... if they are at all .. is THAT the issue? No apps/no-updates/no formal GUI for searching? Must be a badguy in the some place. Is it true that 25% of all local CPU cycles are sucked over to the LHC to analyse misplaced Higgs bosons?



 
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amdfangirl

amdfangirl

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There is an update manger for Scientific.

However I tend to prefer CLI

yum update -y

Scientific Linux is pretty neat. Scientists are like that.

Probably the only downside to Scientific is that you should to stay within repos specifically designed for RHEL/CentOS/SciLinux.

You also have to live with the LTS version of Firefox.

And the LiveDVD has LibreOffice 3.4 pre-installed.

So if you like - LiveCD is free of LibreOffice :p

Some useful packages in the official repos
- flash-plugin
- gstreamer-ffmpeg
- ntfs-3g
 
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Solution
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nss000

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Yes, reading about I get the drift that SL is not as generous with generously stocked-repos as Ubuntu. Still --- I expect to give OfficeLibre the **chop** and install Apache OO ... or fall-on-my-sword trying. Funny, there was no mention of WINE ... which supports the superb freebie Windows circuit analysis proggie TopSpice!

But, sink/swim I think your judgement here is spot-on. SL is worth lots of engagement and a major effort on my part.



 
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amdfangirl

amdfangirl

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I forgot about WINE. It's there in epel - don't expect a recent release.

You WILL need EPEL at some point.

http://pastebin.com/mwYiTFd3

I can't paste urls in code for some reason... ugh Tom's...

There. Two commands and you're done.

Below shows you that WINE is from the EPEL repo:

Code: 
[root@Redemption strayfire]# yum info wine
Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit, security
epel/metalink                                            | 2.3 kB     00:00    
epel                                                     | 4.2 kB     00:00    
epel/primary_db                                          | 4.4 MB     00:03    
sl                                                       | 3.7 kB     00:00    
sl-security                                              | 3.0 kB     00:00    
sl-security/primary_db                                   | 2.2 MB     00:18    
sl6x                                                     | 3.7 kB     00:00    
sl6x-security                                            | 3.0 kB     00:00    
sl6x-security/primary_db                                 | 2.2 MB     00:19    
Available Packages
Name        : wine
Arch        : i686
Version     : 1.4.1
Release     : 1.el6
Size        : 37 k
Repo        : epel
Summary     : A Windows 16/32/64 bit emulator
URL         : http://www.winehq.org/
License     : LGPLv2+
Description : While Wine is usually thought of as a Windows(TM) emulator, the
            : Wine developers would prefer that users thought of Wine as a
            : Windows compatibility layer for UNIX. This package includes a
            : program loader, which allows unmodified Windows 3.x/9x/NT binaries
            : to run on x86 and x86_64 Unixes. Wine does not require MS Windows,
            : but it can use native system .dll files if they are available.
            :
            : In Fedora wine is a meta-package which will install everything
            : needed for wine to work smoothly. Smaller setups can be achieved
            : by installing some of the wine-* sub packages.
 
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