Which Red Hat?

Mon Feb 17 02:35:54 PST 2003

Quoting David Alban (extasia at extasia.org):

> My requirements are:
> 
>   . decent security (whether out of the box or wrangled)
>   . support for my hardware
>   . lots of docs available on the net

Practically any x86 'nix can be considered to qualify -- especially by
partisans of that 'nix.  You've essentially invited people to put their
sysadminly prejudices on parade.

For example, I'd use Debian for that purpose.  Or FreeBSD.  And we could
have a long conversation about why, with frequent asides from kibbitzers
as to why I'm deluded and am leading you astray.  ;->

> Red hat is not a requirement.  Having rtfm'd a bit, and having
> discovered that openbsd supports my pci ide controller, my scsi
> card[1], and my network cards, I might go with openbsd. 

What you've described are kernel requirements, not OS/distribution
requirements.  I.e., you're saying you want an x86 'nix OS/distribution
whose kernel can be made to support an AIC7870.  Sounds do-able with
practically any x86 'nix.

>      It's the "some on-board PCI designs using the AIC7870 and
>      AIC7880 chips" (specifically the word "some") that makes me
>      wonder.

Well, I could say rude things about Red Hat Software's recent inability
to reliably support (in their default installation kernels) certain
AIC7xxx chipsets, e.g., those on Intel Lancewood motherboards.  Which
is one reason why, e.g., http://www.kainx.org/vermillion/ exists.  But
that would risk my having to argue with fans of RH's distribution,
wouldn't it?

-- 
Cheers,                   "Besides, Debian runs Web sites, Red Hat runs
Rick Moen                  Quake, and Windows runs Half-Life."
rick at linuxmafia.com                       -- Bryce Kerley (on Slashdot)