Ajay Sharma wrote: > I was merely making an observation about desktop software, > no more, no less. And all I was saying: From my personal > experience, I believe that other distros are better suited > for desktop applications. Ajay Sharma wrote (?): > You're better off using a desktop geared distro like Ark, > Ubuntu or Gentoo. My desktop is Gentoo and all my servers > are CentOS. Karanbir Singh wrote: > Just looking at some stats from this end, I assure you that > there are a _lot_ of people using CentOS on the desktop / > workstation. A lot of thousands that is :) Red Hat Desktop (RHD) is the volume licensed version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) WS. As a Gentoo user myself, I don't think "ports" distros are necessarily better or worse "in general" than a "packages" distro for desktops. And even then, I don't think a SLA-focused" packages" distro is better or worse "in general" than a more fluid "packages" distro for desktops. If you do a crapload of customization, then a "ports" distro is better. That could be a desktop, it could be a server. Of course, if you do less customization, or you have a strict configuration management policy that requires packages, or a vendor trusted set of regression-tested packages, then a "packages" distro is probably in order. If the distro is one where binary compatibility is guaranteed against 3rd party apps, then an SLA-focused "packages" distro might be better. I prefer Gentoo for development workstations where I'm pulling in a lot of the latest stuff and I don't need a fixed configuration. I also prefer Gentoo for servers that are highly customized and Internet facing. Of course, I like RHD for desktop rollouts and RHEL for LAN file/database servers -- especially when the desktop/server apps are running certified 3rd party software. I don't think you can make any recommendation "in general" on desktops or servers. That's why I wrote this 7,600 word ramble: http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/07/linux-distributions-packages-v-ports.html Of course, I've already been acused of being anti-Debian, anti-Fedora, anti-Gentoo and anti-Red Hat (plus anti-Windows) by different people for writing it. Sigh. -- Bryan J. Smith | Sent from Yahoo Mail mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org | (please excuse any http://thebs413.blogspot.com/ | missing headers)