To Build or not to Build...

[aluminumspleen]

This is surely the question.

As far as Linux goes, I've heard mixed reactions of Ubuntu's usability. On the one hand, people say it is easy, usable, stable, wonderful, etc. On the other, people say it's TOO easy, that it mocks the average Linux user by thinking he/she is an idiot.

I have thought a lot about this debate, and I came to the conclusion that Linux is Linux, and it doesn't matter how "easy" or "hard" a distro is, if you can make it your own, you win because it's now your distro, not a "brand name."

So, since I had Ubuntu lying aroud, and a computer with a blank HD, I thought "what the hey" and popped that baby in. Half an hour later, voila, Ubuntu.

Then to build, mod, hack, make it my distro, not someone elses. However, no internet was available on this particular computer. So, i became a bit of a repository bloodhound, searching for library after library on my Vista-running laptop, transferring them to Ubuntu with a cheap flash drive. After countless (literally 30-40+) hours of work (not in a row, mind you ), I had...16 half built applications, a very full flash drive, and broken codecs. Lovely.

Then I stumbled upon something marvelous: Open Progex. It came up on Distrowatch, caught my eye, and before I knew it I was downloading the liveDVD to play around with.

It was just what I wanted my system to have: all the applications I wanted pre-installed, all the codecs configured, dark-themes, skype, cairo-dock, it seemed to have everything I was going to put on my Ubuntu, then couldn't.

This again left me at a dilemma: If Ubuntu was a "hand holder," then where does that leave Open Progex? I thought maybe I wouldn't be "cool" enough if I didn't build my own system.

But recently, I've changed my position. I wanted a desktop with all those things on it, so if there is a distro (a pretty one, at that) with everything pre-configured for me, why shouldn't I install it? I mean, I know Linux is for breaking things so you can fix them, but I think I'm liking this pre-configuration as a dependable system to come back to at the end of the day.

Plus, that's what dual-booting is for. I plan on installing OpenSolaris 2008.11 on the other half. Now that system was built to tinker with, program on, and break to pieces.

Anyways, what's everyone's thoughts on distros coming with "everything you want/need" right out of the proverbial box?

P.S. I'm not trying to put in a plug for Open Progex, but if anyone's interested, check it out at open-progex.com - Home

[josolanes]

Linux isn't necessarily about breaking things and tinkering to your heart's desire, though I'm not going to lie I tend to favor distros like this (Gentoo, for example).

I view Linux as being a choice and something that suits you best. IMO, what you're donig now - installing a distro to tinkerr with, while having another for a stable sytem - seems to give you the best of both world's. You don't have to worry about your system booting correctly after major system updates and a reestart, but can enjoy learning/tinkering with another system at the same time with no worries.

I'm slowly getting over the phase of wanting a system solely for tinkering - I may try Open Progex shorly, as I was somewhat impressed with Ubuntu as well, but wanted something different still

[elija]

Linux is all about choice. For those who want to get down and dirty with the very entrails of their operating system can do so. There are a whole range of distros that enable that.

Well to be honest every distro offers that opportunity but fortunately for those of us who don't want to go down that path there are many more that don't make it mandatory

[hazel]

You don't need to be a geek to find Ubuntu a bit tame. I'm certainly not the type to "fix things till they break" - I want a system that works - but all the same, after a year or so, I found Ubuntu too big, too complex, too tightly integrated, too hard to understand. Too Windows-like, you might say.

So, on a spare partition, I installed Debian without a desktop and created my own: xorg, fluxbox, the basic fonts and a minimal set of applications that I actually use all the time. I keep Ubuntu for the heavyweight programs like Gimp and OOo that I use only occasionally, and my streamlined Debian for everything else.