Since the focus of The Linux Project is the newbie, Yes Linux sits far outside that focus. For the die-hard keyboard jockey, Yes Linux might rule the roost. For the purposes of this series of articles, Yes Linux is just another poor excuse for a computer operating system.
While I am sure you can add a GUI to the Yes Linux base system using the generic GNU releases, I get the feeling that getting the GUI to work right would be as much of a pain as it is with Gentoo Linux or Lunar Linux. Since doing this kind of set up is not for the faint of heart, or the newbie, I simply can't recommend anyone use Yes Linux unless they KNOW Linux.
The final distribution on this list is Solaris; the open source offering from Sun Microsystems. Sun computers have been running a UNIX style operating system from the get-go. Sun Microsystems is also the originator of the platform independent language, Java. I know they have years of experience with computers. I know their systems have fueled a few movies. I know a lot about them.
I also know that Solaris leaves much to be desired. It comes on five CD's. It takes for bloody ever to set up. It took almost five hours to set up on the test system. It comes with its own desktop that shares nothing with any other open source desktop system. It also refused to set up my net card, my sound card, or my mouse properly. Every other distribution at least attempted to work with the devices installed on the test machine. Solaris seemingly couldn't be bothered. Someone needs to clue Sun Microsystems into the fact that their software needs to support devices in order to be seen as usable. People simply aren't willing to have their computer operate in a hobbled fashion.
I could have forgiven some of the problems inherent with Solaris until it came to file system. Solaris doesn't support long filenames. It supported the old MS-DOS 8+3 file convention only! Even lowly Microsoft gave up on the 8+3 file naming convention with the advent of Windows NT 3.51. Windows 95 used long filenames, albeit by a strange trick of bastardization. My old version of OS/2 Warp used long filenames. The old version of Linux I ran on my old 486 in 1993 used long filenames.
Not so for Solaris. Frankly my friends, I didn't stop laughing for some time when I found out that Solaris was still stuck with 8+3. Once I stopped laughing, I got pissed off. I spent all that time to install what I thought would be the premier open source operating system only to find it was incapable of reading long filenames. What a gyp! What a rip off! What a disappointing piece of shit! Next to Lunar Linux and Gentoo Linux, Solaris was the last of three distributions that didn't last an hour on the test system once they finished setting up.
Solaris was just plain lame, no two ways about it! While I wouldn't say it's user completely user unfriendly, it is really not Linux in the classic sense, ie running with a kernel created by Linus Torvalds. It's also hobbled with it's file system and inability to run popular devices that other true Linux iterations support completely. I'd recommend Debian before I'd recommend Solaris.
So there you have it. Take this as a list of distributions that should be avoided at all costs by the newbie. Lunar Linux, Gentoo Linux, Yoper Linux, Santa Fe Linux, Yes Linux, and Solaris should definitely be avoided by the new user. While the reasons are as varied as the crappiness of the distribution, it all boils down to one basic fact: these operating systems are not created with the new user in mind.
Whether they have broken or non-existent installation programs, take forever to install, or require an above average knowledge of computers to install, they are definitely not for the newbie, the faint of heart, or those like me who have no patience for total garbage. When you consider the number of usable Linux distributions available on the net, avoiding these digital irritants is an easily accomplished feat.
