I've decided to switch away from Xandros Linux. Although Xandros may be the easiest way to transition from Windows to Linux, that is not the same as saying it is the best alternative to Windows.
Like Microsoft, Xandros does things its way. If you don't like it, tough. They aren't listening. For example, they create proprietary versions of standard environments like KDE. But by making these changes, you are locked into their version because you can never upgrade or update when the standard version updates.
As I've said before, if you don't mind being locked in to what they feed you, Xandros is a fine, trailing edge distribution. But if you wish to maintain a secure distribution, and I'm not talking about a leading edge distribution, just one that is secure, Xandros is not for you.
Why? Because Xandros does security fixes about once or twice a year. It doesn't seem to matter how critical the vulnerability is, Xandros doesn't issue timely security patches. And since they create proprietary versions of significant applications, you cannot update directly from the authors of the application.
So, once you go with Xandros, you are stuck in a time warp until they issue a patch or update.
To me, this is unacceptable. If the distribution I use chooses to create proprietary changes to standard applications, I need to know that it will issue security patches on a timely basis (preferably within 24 to 48 hours of the issuance of any security related patch).
I have no idea if there is such a security minded distribution out there but I'm going to start looking. The first will be Mepis since I already am using it at home. I need to see what their policy is, if any, on security updates. If it's not acceptable, then I'll take another look at Novell/SUSE because of their tie-in with Netware (which is what our network runs on).
Because of this change over, posts may be few and far between...Or not.
Aloha!
