In Response to Beranger.org

In Response to Beranger.org: Recently, I did a review of CentOS and quickly got a negative feedback from Beranger.org. I respect the opinion of the author from the said site, but I have to clarify a few things:

Beranger.org: I happened to read Is CentOS 5.0 Worth Every Penny? and this made me even grumpier. How smart have you to be to try a LiveCD under VMWare? Why is it live if not for being able to test it "for real", with direct contact with your real hardware?

Me: I may not be as smart as you are but one of the major reasons why I’m testing the LiveCD on VMWare is that it helps me save some time and resources as I don’t have to burn the ISO to a CD in order to use it. But just to be fair, I burned the CentOS LiveCD ISO and tested it “for real” a few moments ago.

These are some troubles that I have encountered while at boot:

DETERMINING IP INFORMATION: FAILED
NTPD SYNCHRONIZING WITH TIME SERVER: FAILED
HDB: LOST INTERRUPT

...and then my system freezes. I have never met problems like these before when I tried Xubuntu and Linux Mint using this particular hardware configuration. But then again, just to be fair to CentOS, I would say that this could only be an isolated hardware compatibility issue. I hope the gentleman at beranger.org can now see the importance of a VMWare workstation when testing an OS.

Beranger.org: Furthermore, just what is in the head of a guy who, while running under VMWare, complains that for Compiz... "The highest set of resolution I can have on my 19 inch screen monitor is only 800x600." Eh?

Me: I did not complain about running Compiz in VMWare because I know that as of now, it is not possible to run Compiz or any other desktop effects on a VM environment. My only complaint was the 800x600 screen resolution I got as a default, and there were no easy options available to set it to a desired size. The 100MB NimbleX Linux LiveCD can easily and effectively change the screen resolution as tested inside my VMWare. Perhaps the gentleman at beranger.org should try it to see it for himself.

Deranger.org: The unfair and dumb conclusion is only what would be the logical continuation: «So is CentOS 5.0 worth every penny? Not really.

Me: I’m just being honest. I did not judge the whole CentOS Distribution as my review is only about the CentOS LiveCD version 5.0. To be fair, the gentleman at beranger.org should have read the review carefully first before giving some harsh remarks.

My main purpose of writing a review is to somehow properly guide users of different levels in choosing a suitable distribution that will fit their needs. I may have my own favorite distro like most Linux users have, but I strive to be fair each and every time I do a review for the sake of reliability.