thelinuxlink.net

Bare with me, people. I know this post isn't asking a Linux question or has anything to do with the Linux Link Tech Show directly, and I apologies for that. I just have to give some credit to the development and community answer team over at ALT Linux (http://www.altlinux.com).

I've been using ALT Linux distributions for a few years now (giving other distros test drives on my non-essential PC from time to time). ALT Linux's Junior and Compact releases are probably not your idea of a perfect distro, but for someone without the technical background or ambition you folks have, they offer a perfect balance between usability AND support.

As I mentioned above, I do try other distros from time to time just to keep myself somewhat "educated" on the matter. But not one distro has provided the kind of user support I've found with ALT Linux.

If I have a question regarding a particular problem I'm having with an app. or with how to configure ALT to work with a piece of hardware, all I have to do is e-mail the community support group. I get answers that fix my problem 90% of the time. On the rare occasion, there isn't an immediate solution, but I at least get some suggestions as how I could proceed.

These folks really try hard, and not once ever ask for donations or money in any way for the hours of help I've drawn from these people over the last three years.

I guess that's why I'm posting about it here. I just needed to let others know how good a team they've got there. I guess that's also why I've decided to help promote their distros as well.

Man, if the four big, main Linux distributors had the kind of support ALT Linux delivers, I think Linux would have a lot more of the market share than it does now.

Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled programming. Thanks for reading.

P.S. - If you're partial to the WindowMaker desktop evnironment, ALT Linux has the best WindowMaker developer working for them. ALT's WindowMaker is the most polished version I've seen and used over any other distro.

Ho Judland, thanks for the heads up on Alt Linux. I popped over to their website at <a href="http://www.altlinux.com">altlinux.com</a> to see what it is all about. Sounds very interesting. Perhaps this will be something I will have to check out in the very near future. If their community support is as good as you say it is, perhaps this deserves a serious boost for novice users!

Hey, Dan. Well, it never hurts to check things out.

They've got an English build of their Compact 2.3 distro coming out soon. I've been helping them with the translation of the documentation for it (no, I don't know Russian.... I'm helping with the structuring part, so there's no "All your base are belong to us" kind of errors).

Up until now, their distros. have featured Russian language support for their apps. (like OpenOffice and Synaptic package handler). And rightly so, as that is where they're located and the market group they support.

However, after using it myself for the past two years, I've been hoping to convince them that others outside ouf Russia and Europe would benefit and enjoy using their products. Seems as though they're willing to give it a try with Compact 2.3. I hope it does well.

Just to give you a bit of background, their Linux distros use APT and Synaptic package handling for RPMs.

Their self-maintained repositories include a really great selection of applications and work seamlessly with their distros. They don't have everything that's available under Linux, but what they do have works.

They pride themselves on the level of security and stability their distros provide.

One of the benefits of this system is their "Sisyphus" package development repository. Feel free to read more about this on their website.

And, yes, their support team is one of the best I've ever interacted with. They really try hard to help out.

I'd be very interested in reading (or hearing via the show) your opinion of this little known Linux developer. If you'd like, I'll keep you informed of to when the new English build of Compact 2.3 is available.