Mircea Bardac /random_thoughts

I have decided today to switch to Linux (again). I have used before RedHat 7.2, Mandrake 8.0/8.1/ SuSE 8.2. The last one lasted for a few months on my computer. I managed to break it (don’t really remember how) and got back to my Windows. I was kind of stuck with the packages I had from the original distro then. I didn’t have an Internet cable connection then.

Things have changed now… I have a permanent Internet connection @ 128kbps which is not much, but enough to be up to date. The 1.5GB traffic limit I have might not sound that good but I don’t upgrade too often.

Checking out the latest distros around, I found ArchLinux.
A few things that I liked about ArchLinux from the moment I’ve seen it:
- binary packs for i686 (most of the distros compile the packages for i386 - I don’t need so much backwards compatibility)
- excelent package manager - ArchLinux has an excelent package manager called pacman which is extremely powerfull and also flexible. I have never built any RPMs before, but I can say that building packs for ArchLinux is extremely easy. Many people complain about the problems that appear from using RPMs. pacman will save you from the trouble.
- up to date - the package repositories are kept up to date by the package maintainers, allowing you to have a really up to date system (fortunately, I have an Internet cable connection for this) - it’s true, ArchLinux is not really for connectionless computers
- extremely configurable - It’s totally configurable, not bloated with wizards & apps that do tons of things for you, it lets you configure every possible detail that your heart wants.
- excelent community - one of the greatest forums ever - you’ll learn tons of things just by reading some topics around there
- it’s a perfect environment to study Linux, since it’s very flexible.

ArchLinux seems to be everything I’ve ever wanted. It isn’t a newbie distro, because not everything is set when you first boot. You have to tweak several things and you really have to know what to do. It’s recommended that you first get your network connection up and sync the packages. If you get in any trouble, the community is always there to help you.

Great distro!.. what can I say… Thanks to all the people involved in this wonderful project.

1st of March means spring… I think you knew that :)…

It has been a beautiful day today. It’s a Romanian custom that men offer women symbolic gifts called “martisoare” (sg. “martisor”). Of course they were please to see everybody cared :). Imagination counts a lot this day ;).

We had a great spring weather today although rain-falls were predicted for the evening (they didn’t get here though). The weather almost called me to go rollerskating but the cold air might have “hurt” me… and I needed to be healthy because…

…1st of March is also, this year, the begining of a new studying semester… I can’t say much about the begining of this semester, but I can say that this semester will be a little bit more difficult that the first one. New teachers, new subjects… tons of interesting things… I’ll keep you in touch.

Well, the Universe started with the Big Bang! (at least that’s what some of the scientists say).
Since I’m not the Universe, I can’t say that about my weblog.

My weblog started with a little bang though… little as a thought that eveything I share using it could help others and even lead them to great decisions. I’m an optimistic kind of person and I do believe in the long life of this weblog.

It will cary my thoughts, my dreams, comments on my work… a small part of my life, hopefully useful for others.

Enjoy