Not much to say, I have been busy downloading, testing, and installing the latest versions of linux here in the bowels of the paxtonland labs. So far I have downloaded Redhat, Mandrake, Slackware, FreeBSD, and Open Linux (Caldera). Having never worked with downloaded ISO images before, so it’s a new experience for me. For those that aren’t quite sure what I’m talking about, let me explain a bit. An ISO image is a standard file format that you can use to create an actual duplicate of the distro CD’s that you’d order from a linux catalog, or website such as redhat.com. Saves me quite a lot of money, I’d have over $400.00 wrapped up in “Official” cd’s by now…. this way it’s free minus the time spent downloading.
Okay great but, why go through all of this? I really needed to see which one was cleanest install and easiest to get up and running. It’s been a year or two since I’ve installed any version of linux on any machine. I use UNIX (BSD) every day for years and years as well as administering everything from AIX to Solaris, to HP-UX. But my linux skills have quite a gap. I’m going to get Debian and SuSE next, that will give me enough to make knowledgeable reccomendations. I’m documenting my steps from start to finish and making a lot of notes. So look for more details from me here at a later date linux guides are in the paxtonland future… yes, more rumors about the TAP project.