I have watched the debate and sat back wondering what, if anything I could add that would be insightful and valuable. Naturally I lean toward introducing CollegeLinux into the debate. partly because I can support it, it has an absolutely awesome support forum, and we are in alpha on the 2.6 release based on slackware 10 with a 2.6 kernel upgrade and partly because its whole design was to introduce linux and to help people learn how to get under the bonnet and play with the engine. But I wonder if we are taking the right tack here. Should we really be supporting a single distro. or even a single base like fedora , and an install disk like combind (single CD and fedora based, so still fedora when you lift the bonnet). OK we need a preferred distro. but then of course if we do an installfest at say DSE we will be given Mandrake CD's as they sell these. Andreas kindly donates a number of yoper cds. Someone with a P1 233 laptop pops in, and since anything else is too slow I help by getting Feather working just like on my old clunker. (great for steam powered laptops.) and someone who has tried to get knoppx right since doing the disk install is guided to a working system. and that is what happens in the real world. We have users who use RH (Fedora), Debian and Slack based distros, we use debs, rpms and packages we Yum,apt-get or swaret our updates and new tools, yet we all use Linux (ok or BSD too) and open source where we can. we have learnt command line, and gui interfaces (if we run desktops), eventually make our own servers of some sort, and learned how one step at a time. Maybe ... Just Maybe, instead of the path we are trying to take, we widen it a little, and do an audit of who can support what, and at what level. This would give us an expert base to tap into instead. Naturally the Lug would have a preference to start from, and it should have a server and a desktop path (IMHO) and following an installfest, or when required would run a new user class. But a list of who can help with what can mean that distro specific questions can be directed to someone who will mentor the newbies into users with enough skills to feel at home in a monthly geek meeting. (even if fedora core is the only disks used, there should be a list of what to install for each path.) SO starting with me: I can do CollegeLinux and Feather quite well, I have some Mandrake experience, and I'm brushing up my fedora. (haven't had a successful yoper install yet, but I am working toward that) and can do some general linux stuff too. But I am not there Monday nights as I teach that night, I can do installfest and expos by arrangement, and do a lot of e-mail and forum support, and right now I am writing the users guide to CL having already completed a full step by step install guide for 2.5, and updating the install guides for the new 2.6 alpha. Naturally, having suggested this, I need to back it up with the promise to carry it out if so requested. Maybe some thinking down this path before the Committee makes its deliberations could be helpful too. Greig McGill wrote:
OK. Some interesting points being raised. Keep 'em coming.
BUT.