Re: Need Distro Recommendation

[Keith Powell <keith keithg4jvx force9 co uk>]

On Thursday 16 Jan 2003 6:21 am, Stephen Kuhn wrote:
> On Thu, 2003-01-16 at 16:26, cr wrote:
> > On Wednesday 15 January 2003 23:29, Keith Powell wrote:
> > > > If you are adventurous, you could try Debian. Pros: easy, continuous
> > > > updates; good packaging (usually) with a policy for doing things the
> > > > Right Way; tonnes of easy-to-install packages (the distribution is
> > > > centralised so you don't have to hunt for RPMs); Gnome packages are
> > > > usually updated within a few days of their release; a well-organised
> > > > community for getting help and requesting package improvements (there
> > > > is a mailing list for everything).
> > > >
> > > > Cons: the installer is actually OK, but some of the questions it asks
> > > > are hard to answer if you are new to the GNU/Linux universe (but you
> > > > only need to install it once, and there is a very nice manual); if
> > > > you want bleeding-edge Gnome, you need to use the so-called unstable
> > > > branch (there is stable, testing and unstable) - with unstable,
> > > > sometimes a package is broken and you have to wait a few days before
> > > > updating.
> > > >
> > > > I think the plan is to have Gnome 2.0/2.2 in testing soon, but it
> > > > doesn't seem to have happened yet.
> > >
> > > I suggest the excellent Libranet distribution, the "User Friendly"
> > > version of Debian.
> > >
> > > Keith
> >
> > Just as a matter of interest, if one replaces (say) a Red Hat distro of
> > Linux, with a Debian one, what happens to all ones files on the drives?  
> > And particularly stuff like browser settings, Kmail folders and so on.  
> > Are they retained the same way as they are when upgrading from one RedHat
> > version to a later one?
> >
> > cr
>
> Upgrading never works the way you want. Just backup your stuff, and
> start fresh. Really. NO joke.

Stephen is correct. 

I *never* upgrade from one version of a distro to another, let alone from one 
distro to a different one. I always back up my existing /home partition to a 
re-writeable CD and then do a clean install. It's by far the safest way, in 
my opinion.

So I can't answer your question, sorry.

Keith