Some distributions have better controls for handling display issues than others. Two that do it right out of the box that come to mind include Fedora (Red Hat) and OpenSuSE (Novell). Each includes tools that minimize the need to do what I gleefully refer to as the “Xorg dance.” Unfortunately, even with the latest release of Ubuntu, we have yet to see this level of functionality.

Most agree that with the release of Debian Etch, with it’s very intuitive installer that even makes things like setting up LVM and software RAID a breeze, there is now a stable Debian distribution that is close to the usability level of Ubuntu as long as you have well-supported hardware and don’t mind using slightly older software.

So, what do you do if there's no distro which meets your specific needs? Or, what if you want a distro that doesn't bother you with any pesky prompting but just sets itself up exactly how you like it? In these cases - or even just for the fun of it - you can always make your own distro. And here's how.

Mandriva gives its support to AFUL's action against sales of bundled software.

I tested Mandriva One on rhea, europa, and algol. I tested PCLinuxOS only on algol. BTW, these are personal tests, highly limited, so take what you read here with a grain of salt. While I have some screen shots, if you want comprehensive eye candy (lots and lots of screen shots of everything), google for them.

I was honored to present my ideas about Ubuntu & Debian at Debconf 7, with a number of Ubuntu and Debian developers present, including Mark (first time I saw him in person) and DPL Sam Hocevar. There was no slide projector, so I had to read my slides, even though everyone says you shouldn’t do that… :-)

"Why I'm not buying an ATI video card (even though I really like both ATI and AMD products)"

As you can see from the subject line, I am not spending my money on a high-end ATI card in my dual Opteron system, even though I really like both firms and their products.

In a June 21 note to clients, WR Hambrecht analyst Robert Stimson wrote he thinks the company's first-quarter results will come in at or slightly above his estimates of 16 cents in adjusted earnings per share and $117.3 million in revenue. Stimson wrote the company's Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 will benefit from being the first product in its market with extensively tested virtualization features.