[ILUG] Newbie

[Rick Moen]

Quoting John Gay (johngay at eircom.net):

> I did play with the first few Corel versions. These seemed to
> incorporate the best of Linux and the worst of Windows into one
> Linux-like system with lots of hidden config settings and
> custom-hacked GUI set-up tools that didn't always work, but could not
> be worked around. I have not seen their latest offerings, so take my
> advice with a grain of salt.

The biggest problem is that the distribution is dead -- for now.  It was
discontined at the v. 1.2 (aka "Second Edition") release, then sat
unmaintained for a while, and finally was spun off to a new company
named Xandros (http://www.xandros.com/), which will eventually
re-release it as Xandros Desktop OS.  Upon release, it might be worth 
looking at, again.

Version 1.2, like earlier releases, included Corel's mutant, highly
incompatible KDE 1.1 software.  That proved to be the biggest single
problem for those who tried to maintain Corel Linux installations.  
It was also based on Debian 2.1 "slink", which as you know is antique.

It's of course possible to upgrade Corel Linux installations.  For a
while, a limited set of updates were available from Corel, but not any
longer.  Or you could re-converge on the several Debian branches that 
have been out since then, but only at the cost of considerable trouble
on account of the incompatibilities.

I guess what I'm saying is that Storm Technologies, Progeny Systems, and
Libranet all did the "Debian superset" trick a _lot_ better, on balance.

-- 
Cheers,   The difference between common sense and paranoia is that common sense
Rick Moen     is thinking everyone is out to get you.  That's normal; they are.
rick at linuxmafia.com      Paranoia is thinking they're conspiring.  -- J. Kegler