[KLUG Members] RH 7.3...two more cents worth

[Gettig,Tony]

Hey there,

As referenced in an earlier message to the list, I
 installed Red Hat Linux 7.3 on my new Compaq Evo N600c
 this week. It's a PIII 1.2 GHz, 256 MB, with the Radeon
 Mobility graphics adapter.

Since Ximian Gnome isn't available for 7.3 quite yet, I
 figured I would give KDE 3 a good try in the mean time.
 It's definitely a nice interface, but I have to say I am
 not impressed with what it does to my PC performance. In
 fact, I have this same beef with KDE 2. After awhile, my
 machine seems to drag. It takes awhile for things to open,
 to switch windows, to close apps. I thought hmmm...I
 wonder if Gnome does this? 

Not at all. Man, I can work and work on that thing under
 Gnome and it screams. With OpenOffice, vmware, Galeon, and
 Evolution all chugging along, I am getting a lot done with
 Gnome. I tried these same things with KDE 3, and it was
 difficult. I only gave KDE 3 two days worth of trial, but
 I had to get to work. Gnome came through for me and is
 performing well.

Another touted feature in RH 7.3 is Evolution. It's version
 1.0.3 (just shy of the latest version 1.0.4, I think).
 Nice still. :)

Besides some of the cosmetic things like KDE 3 and
 Evolution, I am also glad they have a newer version of the
 X stuff in there. (4.2 I think?) It supports the Radeon
 chipset in my laptop, so I haven't had to compile anything
 yet. 

Is anyone using MrProject? GnomeMeeting? They come with RH
 7.3 too. 

I have REALLY started to appreciate what Ximian does for
 Gnome, now that I don't have it. :) 

As for my docking problem, I have a workaround: I start the
 PC out of the port replicator. Once X is running, I can
 slide it into the replicator and turn on the monitor.
 Since I cannot turn off the laptop display (even with the
 monitor on), I've started just leaving the monitor off and
 using the port replicator for my keyboard and mouse only,
 using the laptop display as primary. Maybe there's
 something I can do to the X configuration to tell it I
 have two monitors...laptop and external? Hmmm, sounds like
 a good weekend reading project. :)

Tony Gettig