Re: [TCLUG:10969] GNOME configuration questions/musings

[Kevin Bullock <kbullock@ringworld.org>]

On Wed, 8 Dec 1999, Carl Wilhelm Soderstrom wrote:

>         I've been trying to use Linux as my desktop system at home recently;
> with rather marginal success. I'm using RH 6.1, 2.2.12-20 (stock), and
> GNOME/E or FVWM or FVWM2.
As an alternative to E, try sawmill (http://sawmill.sourceforge.net/).
It's very similar to E's ideals, except without the bloated footprint or
the crack pipe. Oh -- and it's fully themeable and GNOME compliant and
uses GTK+ (yay). :)

>         lets face it, Linux is still not for the average home user. I've
> been using it in servers for over a year now; with good success. Desktop
> usage still leaves a lot to be desired, tho. I'm hardly afraid of config
> files; but X has possibly the most obfuscated configuration file
> arrangements I've seen.
I suggest to everyone reading Neal Stephenson's "In The Beginning... Was
The Command Line" (available from bn.com). His history is off, his
arguments are a bit too sweeping, and he's at times maddening, but his
points about operating systems and "desktop-readiness" are (mostly) solid.
(An earlier, shortened version of this appeared a while ago on /.)

>         I think a good chunk of blame can be placed on Red Hat for really
> fscking up v6.1's confiuration. I've had some limited experience with other
> Linux desktop systems (Caldera 2.2 and a Debian 2.0.36 box); and never had
> this much trouble. (then again, I never tried nearly as much with them).
This sounds fairly reasonable to me; however, I've never had such troubles
with a stock Debian box. And my work with RH6.0 suggests that it's pretty
desktop-solid too.

It sounds like your hardware may be toking up a bit too (to extend the
drug analogy ;p ). What do you have? How well is it supported? How well
did it auto-detect? etc.

Kevin R. Bullock                                _
Ringworld.Associates (http://www.ringworld.org/) \_ The two are only connected
St. John's University, Collegeville, MN         _/  by my presence in each.

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