KNOPPIX and KANOTIX: why not merge?

[tablet_guy]

Hi,

I have been a longtime user of knoppix, and have recently experimented
with Kanotix. The latter adds some nice improvements to Knoppix, but
I really fail to see the need for these two distros to be separate. Why
not these two really talented guys and their respective team members
join forces and put out a more potent combined distribution?

Any thoughts?

Tom

[UnderScore]

Sounds like a great idea but too bad this forum is an unoffical knoppix forum. The Knoppix devs & the Kanotix devs don't seem to spend too much time here and they seem to have their own design goals.

[bigkahuna]

I'm a Kanotix user (actually started with Knoppix, then wanted to do a HD install so switched to Kanotix). This question popped up on the Kanotix forum not too long ago. If I recall correctly, the gist of the answer was: a) Although Kanotix and Knoppix share alot in common, they still have some very big differences, big enough so that merging the two might not really be feasable and b) Kanotix is targeted towards a HD install, something it does better than Knoppix.

Personally, I don't care if they remain separate or merge, so long as they continue to develope and stay "healthy". What I don't understand is why a distro like Ubuntu is so much more popular than both Knoppix and Kanotix combined. I tried using the Ubuntu Live CD again yesterday and still couldn't get it to work with my external modem. The install version gave me similar problems (that's what prompted me to switch to Kanotix in the first place). The graphics and Gnome are pretty, but it's given me headaches every time I tried to use it

JMHO...

[tablet_guy]

What I don't understand is why a distro like Ubuntu is so much more popular than both Knoppix and Kanotix combined. I tried using the Ubuntu Live CD again yesterday and still couldn't get it to work with my external modem. The install version gave me similar problems (that's what prompted me to switch to Kanotix in the first place). The graphics and Gnome are pretty, but it's given me headaches every time I tried to use it

JMHO...

Actually,Ubuntu is a fine distribution. I have an ubuntu installation (a
pre-Hoary "install version") which after some (significant) tinkering does
exactly what I want it to do. Their LiveCD is a work-in-progress, currently
very slow and poorly-featured. I think that they are trying to go the unified
"debian installer" route for both the install and LiveCD version, and this
process seems to be still evolving.

So all in all, I do think that Ubuntu holds the best promise as a stable
Linux desktop installation, whereas Knoppix/Kanotix are the best Debian-based
liveCDs, IMO. There is a new slackware-like distro called "archie",
which is very fast and neat, but it needs a few finishing touches too.

I like mepis too (for its design and fit and finish) but it has too many fingerprints of
"Warren" (Mepis' founder) on it (you will find his name all over the place, such
as kde config files etc, once you are inside the distro). This really turned me off.

IMO, the main hinderance to debian-based distros (except for ubuntu) from really taking
taking off is the stupid resistance on the part of Debian team (who otherwise
deserve an extraordinary amount of credit) to stay with Xfree 4.3.0 instead
of making a compatabile Xorg available at least in the "experimental" branch.
TOO BAD!

After all, looks matter when it comes to the desktop, as pleasing visuals make
it comfortble to work for longer periods, and Xfree's fonts and rendering etc are totally
crappy, compared to those of Xorg.


Tom