The Linux Project part V: Test four: Debian, the little system that couldn't.
Debian logo
What can I say about what I feel to be the most overly hyped Linux distribution I have worked with to date? Well, we can start at the very beginning, as in trying to get it to install. In the grand scheme of Linux distributions that I have installed on the test system, Debian is the worst of the lot as far as set up and install. It fails in other areas as well, which I promise I will get to soon.
Debian was actually the second distribution I installed on the test system just before I had the idea for doing The Linux Project. Frankly, Debian almost completely soured me on the idea of running Linux at all. However, maybe as a result of Debian, I decided to start work on The Linux Project. As much to give a warning to those who might want to try as to get the chance to stomp all over Debian in writing, and have an excuse to do so.
Even now, as I type this on my main machine, I am burning the third, as in first, second, third Debian net installation disk from the ISO file. For some reason, and I am just unsure as to why, Debian setup CD's have a really short life once they find their way into a CD ROM drive. Both previous disks failed miserably this last time to set up the system. Considering this is the official setup for the Debian test under The Linux Project, I'd say that Debian is starting off on the wrong foot. Mind you, they will get a hell of a hot foot from me if this newly minted (as in just popped out of the drive) disk fails to load and run. I may have some measure of patience, but I am not writing this review for myself as much as I am for the individual who knows nothing, or next to nothing, about what to expect from a Linux distribution.
If this install fails, I will rate Debian as it operated the last time on the test machine. Mind you, it won't be pretty. I am a fair man, and I am willing to accept much, but when it comes to temperamental computer operating systems, I have a short fuse and little willingness to deal with dumb shit.
Wish me luck, I am about to end this portion and see if the new disk will get a long better. If so, I will rate Debian from that point. If not, I will rate it as I recall its operation on the test system right before I began The Linux Project. If I have to go that route, you can rest assured I will rake Debian over the coals. Even if all goes well this time, I wouldn't count on me being kind to what is, for some reason, the root of many different distributions.
Luck was of no use. I had to reconfigure the test system to get the Debian setup disk to operate. For some reason, the burner that created the CD couldn't read it. However, the DVD ROM that used to be in this machine read the disk just fine. So, for the purposes of this test, and most likely for the remainder of The Linux Project, I am going to keep the DVD ROM drive in the test machine. That's no real problem, since Linux comes with DVD programs, well, Slackware does anyway.
I digress...
Back to Debian. As of now, it gets two stars for installation. Now, although by all rights I should gig it for forcing me to reconfigure the test system, bad drives aren't the fault of the software package. Since the test system is a bit of a throw together, a few hardware bugs are to be expected. Frustrating as they may be, it would be unfair of me to slap Debian down for such things. Besides that, as far as I can see, Debian doesn't need help in sucking. It sucks fairly well on its own.
I give it two stars because of the manner in which you have to install it. The stock Debian distribution is ten CD's. That's a lot of ISO files to download. When in reality, you probably only need two, who wants to gamble on that? The only options are to purchase the full package of disks from Debian directly, or to use the net setup option.
The first option means paying money. One of my unwritten rules of The Linux Project is the distributions must be free. Just by making that a rule, I have excluded some possibly good systems, such as Red Hat. However, what's the point of spending money for buggy systems when you can spend money and get good functional stuff from Microsoft? Even if I did have the money to pay for the disks, I'd still have to wait three or more weeks. I don't want to do that!
The other option, which is the one I am taking even now, is the net install. When I say net install, I mean that you begin by installing a small functional core on your system, make sure you have full exclusive access and use of your DSL line, and lots of time. The net install option is definitely a "smoke 'em if you got 'em" proposition. Once the small functional core is installed, you reboot your system and tell it which packages you want to install, and let 'er rip! For fun, you can smoke 'em if you got 'em, listen to the radio, or, if you happen to have another system sitting around, like me, you write the review as the lights flash on the network hub. There is a timer that tells you how long it will take to download all the packages you selected. When I let 'er rip, it told me it would take about twenty-eight minutes. That was about twenty minutes ago or so.
The timer only times how long it will take for the packages to get to your computer. Once there, they have to be unpacked (decompressed), installed (placed in their proper directories), and configured (made functional). If you assume that means it's going to take a little longer than what the timer tells you, by golly, you are right as rain. This is the third time I have traveled this path with Debian. I know of what I speak. All told, including the lockup that occurs halfway through the configuration of X-Windows (it happened twice already, I'm sure it will happen again), it will probably take two hours more or less to get to a place where you have something resembling an operating system, such as it is considering it's Debian.
So, I give Debian low marks on installation because they don't make it easy. They offer a ten-disk package for purchase, which puts it beyond the scope of The Linux Project. The offer ten ISO's and all the time required burning them, which is, once again, a no-go situation. Or they offer the net install, which is a time consuming operation. Slackware only has three disks. Solaris, the open source option from Sun Microsystems has five. Debian just has to be all things to all people with ten. I doubt all those would be needed, and if I tried to install them all, I'm sure the hard drive would run out of room. Debian is just not a friendly installation, no matter how you look at it.
Well, I have to shift gears now, it seems that Debian is ready to move to the next stage. The lights aren't flashing on the hub any longer. I'll be back presently to talk about the other four criteria. If Debian operates this time like it has the last two, you could say it's only downhill from here for Debian. How on earth did it become such a popular system? I don't get that at all.
I'm using a Minimac with Mac OS X, Linux 4.8 Build 8L2127. I have yet to have a major system crash, I have rebooted a few times for it to rebuild itself to, what should be, the default system.
One time I went over to a young man who had just purchased a Dell System. As I watched me try to install it, over 30 or 45 minutes, it would freeze up and do other, unwanted things about every 10 minutes. The young man had started out with a Model IV that his mother bought from a Goodwill store.
By the way, I never had a system crash using LS-DOS for the TRS-80 Model IV. CPM on the same computer never crashed. Oh for the good old days.
by
Dale Hill (55 articles, 0 quicklinks, 97 diaries, 340 comments)
on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 4:49:30 PM
...you aren't missing a thing. If you have a Mac running Mac's Linux version, I'd say you are well ahead of the pack. Thank your lucky stars indeed.
As I am continuing The Linux Project, I am noticing one overriding truth: Linux distributions are very different from each other in so many ways, even though, at their heart, they are as similar as Windows NT, 2000, XP and 2003.
There are some folks who set up distributions to be very user friendly, and some who think of friendliness as an afterthought, if at all. There are some distributions that are stripped to the bone to offer blazing speed, though always at a detriment to stability. There are others that offer incredible stability with slight speed and size penalties.
In the final analysis, it's about what you want your computer to do best; ride the bleeding edge, or sit there and be rock solid. As of this time, I have yet to find a distribution that can be all things to all people. Slackware comes close. It's review is the next in the series.
Beyond the actual functionality of the Linux distributions tested, the other consideration in making the switch to Linux is the limitation of available programs. One of my biggest uses for my computer systems is recording, mixing, effecting, and mastering music. I have tried numerous Linux programs that are supposed to perform this task. Not a one has achieved the functionality of the Windows-based program I use. Not one, and I have tested every major free-ware Linux audio program. There are two that come close. However, "close" means more I have to do more work with said programs than what I have to do with the Windows-based program. There is a program that is supposed to do the entire job, but for eighty-five bucks, let's just say I am skeptical that it's anything more than another batch of botched annoyance.
By the way, I never had a system crash using LS-DOS for the TRS-80 Model IV. CPM on the same computer never crashed. Oh for the good old days.
Ah yes, the good old days. My "good old days" began by programming in BASIC on a Texas Instruments TI 99/4A. I didn't get a DOS machine for almost another ten years. That machine was given to me by an old boss. He gave it to me so I could write and then read what I had written.
That machine ushered in my involvement in computer repair. I had to fix the drive unit's power supply before I could even use it. Afterward, I killed it data-wise (my fault). That brought the need for a better machine. That put me in contact with computer shops. That put me in touch with someone willing to let me work on their customer's systems. That brought me to Dallas.
I must admit that by doing The Linux Project, I have re-learned a lot that I had forgotten about working with computers and their operating systems and software. It has also provided me yet another job.
The Linux Project has also proven to be a real time eater as well. Whether it's the research with the actual operating systems, or whether it's my personal research in finding a usable Linux multi-track recording program that doesn't crash, scramble the source waves, or sound like a helicopter stuck in yogurt, it has translated into numerous days strung together in front of a computer.
But it's all good. Not only am I gaining experience in research journalism, I am also refreshing my mind as to the minutia of being a dyed in the wool computer geek. If doing this project also helps out a budding geek who'd like to tread the Linux path, then so much the better. It's nice to offer one's experience to others. Since I am not going to have kids of my own, I have to give away my wisdom and experience to strangers. Who'd have thought I'd be doing so with free, open source operating systems?
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 863 comments)
on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 11:58:24 PM
