[CS-FSLUG] Quick Review: CentOS 4.1

[Timothy Butler]

Hey Ed,
     If you are looking for a more desktop oriented system, but like  
what you are seeing in CentOS... give Fedora Core a try. I never  
thought I'd talk you into trying out RH-based distros, but now that  
you have... :-)

     I think you'd find FC much like CentOS with a bit more of a  
desktop-oriented perspective.

     -Tim

On Sep 10, 2005, at 12:45 PM, Ed Hurst wrote:

> My wife finally managed to save up and buy a cheap clone system from
> Sam's Club, an Everex. She gave me her old HP Pavilion 542x. This is
> more machine than I've used before. Having been a little disappointed
> with how my old favorite SUSE behaved on some of that older  
> hardware, I
> gave CentOS a try. Version numbers essentially track those of RHEL,  
> and
> the whole thing is built from freely accessible source RPMs RedHat  
> release.
>
> Except for the external modem, CentOS did a superior job of hardware
> detection and setup. Most of the software is a little behind the curve
> of SUSE's cutting edge, but that is consistent with RHEL's  
> commitment to
> stability. It is sold as a mostly server OS. Sadly, that's too  
> true. By
> emphasizing the server aspect, the desktop user loses a little. CentOS
> has absolutely no simple dialup application that I could find. For KDE
> users, KPPP is crippled in several ways at once, and it seems
> intentional. The usual efforts working through the PAM module, SUID
> root, using sudo, etc., all failed. Of course, that's a RedHat thing.
>
> But without the famous RP3 dialer to replace it, there is only an  
> admin
> tool (requiring root password) to "activate" interfaces. All the
> Internet apps are tweaked to work through this application, including
> the firewall. Even plain old wvdial is denied access to the modem for
> actual dialup (oddly, not for setup). I've already mentioned the  
> problem
> with the external modem. Most applications couldn't find it. During
> installation, the hardware detection missed it entirely, concentrating
> on the onboard ethernet port.
>
> Another naughty issue with installation is hiding package options.  
> That
> is, when you take the advanced option to select individual packages,
> some of those on the CDs are not listed at all in the installer. I
> manually mounted them and checked, finding several things I wanted,  
> but
> stuff known to be de-emphasized by RedHat. An example is KDE games.  
> The
> installer offered *only* GNOME games. Yet I found the package on the
> CDs. On the other hand, automated selections demanded I accept the
> kernel sources for SMP kernels when I only wanted a standard set of
> development tools for compiling a few apps not part of the distro.
>
> Aside from that, just about everything else is functional and  
> usable, as
> long as you keep in mind it's a server OS. It's probably perfect for a
> business IT department where restricting user choices is a virtue, but
> for the SOHO, it's probably not a good desktop choice.
>
> I also tried SUSE 9.3, but no combination of options could prevent the
> installer from crashing out entirely. On a whim, I tried SUSE 9.2, and
> managed a text-based installation. I suppose the onboard Intel  
> graphics
> chipset is not SUSE's favorite. Oddly, the 3D acceleration works.  
> At any
> rate, the system is now working fine. The Celeron 1.8 Ghz CPU seems to
> make the shortage of RAM (256MB) less of an issue, because most things
> open rather quickly and work well. I managed to save the rebuilt
> Freetype2 RPMs with bytecode hinting turned on, and the fonts display
> clean and sharp on the Pavilion mx70 monitor. This is a very  
> intelligent
> 17" monitor, and required absolutely no manual adjustment. At  
> 1280x1024,
> things are quite sharp and bright for my aging eyes.
>
> -- 
> Ed Hurst
> -----------
> Applied Bible -- http://users.tconline.net/~softedges/
> Plain & Simple Computer Help -- http://ed.asisaid.com/
> Plain Package blog -- http://ed.asisaid.com/blog/
>
>
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>

---
Timothy R. Butler | "Now  that  I am a  Christian  I  do have moods
Editor, OfB.biz   | in which the whole thing looks very improbable:
tbutler at ofb.biz   | but when I was an  atheist I had moods in which
timothybutler.us  | Christianity looked terribly probable."
                                                       -- C.S. Lewis