Re: debian vs redhat

["James R. Van Zandt" <jrv@vanzandt.mv.com>]

"Jim Stevenson Ph.D" <jims@eos.arc.nasa.gov> writes:
>Someone asserted that debian is easier for the blind to get working with 
>speech. Is this true, and why?

Installation: Slackware installation is the best documented.  I
have not found a way to install Debian without sighted assistance.  I
don't know about Red Hat.

Administration: Red Hat and Debian have much more capable package
managers than Slackware.  In particular, they keep account of package
dependencies.  They will not let you install a package unless you also
install the correct versions of all the other things that package
needs.  There are more Red Hat users than Debian users, which means
more people to answer your questions.  

Bugs: Debian has an open bug tracking system.  Every package has a
maintainer responsible for handling bug reports.  You can look up all
the currently open bug reports, and you get notified when a bug report
is closed (usually when a new version is uploaded which fixes the
bug).  Red Hat also has a bug tracking system, but it is closed.

Age: I think that in general, Debian is more up to date than Red Hat,
and Red Hat is more up to date than Slackware.  I maintain several of
the access packages on all three distributions.  I usually run Debian,
so I release those packages first.  This will not matter as much to
you, once you are able to download the sources and compile them for
yourself.

However, I am sighted, so there are no doubt other issues I am not
aware of.  

                                    - Jim Van Zandt

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