KDE-Forum.org

The Bash info file describes what the enviroment is:
info:/bash/Environment

Any variable declared there is commonly named "environment variable". So CFLAGS and friends are enviroment variables.

A simple experience is possible:
TEST=test printenv
which shows that TEST gets defined in the environment.

Have a nice day!

Back on the posted topic, my fav is Knoppix. It's pretty complete, really good HW detection, HD install is a breeze. It will run from CD but I use it as an easy method to HD install a Debian based system. On the negative side, some packages have been left out of Knoppix KDE no doubt due to space considerations & it seems impossible to install them without trashing the whole system. Kpat for instance. Apparently this is a Debian package problem related to updating dependencies.

Gentoo

As a former Redhat -> Mandrake -> Slackware -> Debian user I Installed Gentoo last week, and I'm hooked!

The amount of control over your system Gentoo gives you is awesome.

Having a stable OS that updates it's respository all the time is amazing!

It is like Mandrake Cooker and Debian Sid, though stable and more powerful!


Ohh, between - KDE 3.2 beta 2 has been in Gentoo's portage since the very moment it was uploaded today on ftp.kde.org!

I'm emerging it right now, and in Gentoo it doesn't conflict with your stable KDE. As a matter of fact they installs side by side and you get to chose which KDE ver to use from KDM!

I just wanted to add my vote for SuSE. I've been through various releases of Red Hat and Mandrake before settling on SuSE and I've been a happy user since 8.1.

Just my $.02

Yes, I've started in 1995 with a slackware 3.0, and I sticked with slack until 7.0 .
Then I tried mandrake 8, and never changed again. Maybe it doesn't ships with the amazing features of gentoo, but it's incredibly well documented and supported, comes with mostly the newest applications, and the package updater works right.
Believe it or not, i have it installed on a pentium mmx 233 with 256 mb RAM and a 100 gb ata 100 hd, with the new 2.6 test 8 kernel (the fastest kernel i ever tried out) and does the job very well. I also compiled the entire kde 3.1.4, and took a looooong week of continous work... so for me, a installing gentoo will mean months of continous compilation!!! and that, at least for me, isn't the concept of efficient system usage.
Well, maybe there are users in the same situation, or not, but that's is my case.
Bye,

Started in 99 with RH - 5.2, 6.0 and 6.2. Suse 7.1 and then : Debian 2.2.
My way to install KDE with a Debian Woody with the KDE sources.list:

Quoted

for paquet in $(wget 'http://download.kde.org/stable/3.1.4/Debian/dists/stable/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz' -O - 2>/dev/null | gunzip -c | awk -F': ' '/Package/{print $2}' | grep -ve "kde-i18n-[^f]"); do apt-get install $paquet; done

Just change the grep -ve "kde-i18n-[^f]" if you want to install other languages than french or finish

I'm using Arch Linux current. I love it for it's simplicity, performance, open development, binary based package manager and a BSD ports-like something. Both with deps resolving.

Simplicity: It has one config file for managing the entire system. Network, kernel modules, timezone, daemons to start at boottime, etc. To give you an example: just add ethx="dhcp" to rc.conf to get the internet connection up and running.

Performance: Since it uses precompiled i686 binary's and you are able to optimise even more through Arch's ports collection, performace is very good. I didn't notice any difference with my reasonably optimised Gentoo.

Open Development: It supports Trusted User Repositories, which means everyone can package his own software that is not yet included in official repositories and let other people use it. You just have to write a small PKGBUILD and a the software collection has become one package larger. The community is very helpful and has a lot of expertise.

Package Management: Stolen from FreeBSD, they included a binary package manager called pacman, which live peacefully next to the Arch Build System, a ports-like collection of patches to make the software compile right. Both support dep resolving.

Hmm... Switched back to Debian Sid again on my laptop. Although Arch is a lot simpler when it comes to configuring the system, it doesn't contain nearly as much software as Debian does and seems to be not as robust. Besides that, I didn't like devfs.

I still love Arch, but I think it has a long way to go when it comes to maturity and robustness.

Started with Mandrake -> debian -> debian unstable -> gentoo -> linux from scratch

Linux from scratch will stay on my machine until it dies or I find something better :wink:

I always use mandrake
but will try to install a lfs on my hard disk

Yeah, you forgot Vector Linux in your poll...
However, I think it really doesn't matter at this point... :roll:
This poll's been going on for a very long time. :?

:shock: Well, if I am going to vote. I would have have to say, Mandrake. I have always dabbled in Linux but mainly for servers. However, I would say that Linux (and that means any of the mainstream ones) is ready for primetime. Hey, BILL I have switched!.. Unfortunately I still must keep a windows partition for those applications I can not live without.

Quoted

Original von cosnet

.. Unfortunately I still must keep a windows partition for those applications I can not live without.

... such as?

Such as TEXTALOUD (www.nextup.com) with the AT&T voices. My audible.com account app for downloading to my MP3 player. Photoshop 7 (Well I am learning to live with out it- Go Gimp go) and a few games.. but I am not a big gamer anyway.

Well, On the WINE.. I am a newbie desktop user so I was only vaguely familar, but I am learning fast. I have downloaded WINE on my Laptop. One other application I really use and WINE runs the application but not the business card scanner. Cardscan helps me at work I get a lot of business cards. Cardscan through WINE does not recognize the scanner. I have not tried the other apps but I will.

Any help on getting printer drivers for a Canon i950?

Thanks,
Bruce

Hey I found a great software company that fixes the printer incompatibility issues in LINUX..
Check out http://www.turboprint.de/english.html they had the drivers for my modern Canon i950 printer..

I am so happy!

I really like using Gentoo, its just customizable enough to suit me. I never luked Mandrake or SuSe. Also if you are using gentoo, try useing the selinux sources. Its alot of fun!