The Linux Experiment, Part 2 - Not exactly liking it so far...

Posted At : August 4, 2007 3:55 PM | Posted By : Brian Meloche
Related Categories: Linux
I have installed CentOS 5 on my new (to me) server, and after I got the installation disks working, the install was easy.

Well, now that it's installed, I am not liking it much.

For one, why do I have to be logged in as root to run VNC server? Why do I have to go to the terminal to turn it on? Why do I have to log into the server before I can access VNC? I do not want to have a keyboard and mouse installed on the server at all times. I have a KVM switch, but it's hooked up in a different room. I really didn't want to move the server into that room. My other server is in there, and it makes enough noise, and heat, as it is. I want to be able to VNC without this much difficulty.

And, even more annoying, why is it I have to reboot every time I change the screen resolution??? That alone has caused me more annoyances than I really wanted. I don't want to throw out the baby with the bath water, but how can Linux (or probably more accurately, CentOS) have even these basic conveniences missing?

I am not giving up yet. I figure there HAS TO be a better way, but I don't want an OS that's going to be this difficult for every little task.

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The Linux Experiment

Posted At : August 4, 2007 6:20 AM | Posted By : Brian Meloche
Related Categories: ColdFusion, Linux
I was given an old, but still useful, Pentium 4 server with a gig of RAM, and I have been wanting to experiment with Linux and a few other things (Subversion, Trac, PostgreSQL, MySQL), so I figured this would be a good opportunity to put the server to use.

After getting some feedback on my Pownce account and elsewhere, I have decided to install CentOS 5.

I downloaded the torrent overnight, and created the 6 (!!!???) CDs, using my former top-of-the-line but now 4+ year-old Gateway 700XL. Seeing that the server is actually NEWER than the Gateway, I didn't expect a problem reading my 48X max speed CD-Rs. Wrong! Thankfully, in a way, CentOS asked me if I wanted to TEST the CDs before I tried an install, and I figured... what the heck? Well, I am GLAD I did. The server found errors on the first two CDs in the stack.

I am rewriting Disc 1 at the slowest possible speed (8x) this time, and I am hoping it works this time...

I'll update my blog with more as I get it up and running.

UPDATE: It's off to a slow start. Disc 6 failed on the first two discs, even after the second disc was created at the slowest speed - 8x. I downloaded another version off another site, but, after doing a compare, they appeared identical. I went back and created a THIRD Disk 6, this time using the newer download and burning it from my DVD-RW (which has a 4x speed option), and this version finally tested OK. I am doing a custom install, selecting additional developer, server and other tools. So far, the installation is going well. I am going to take a nap while it does its thing. I also want to add that I want to test ColdFusion 8 in Linux/Apache, which is another reason for doing this.

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