Which version of Linux to use

[eoin09]

can someone give me a lowdown of their opinion of whether to go for ubuntu or kubuntu (and their differences) and how both compare to Suse?

Thanks

[jockey0109]

May be I am too young and do not know too much about the Linux OS, but I know there are people who are COMPLETELY new to Linux. So for them I would say that as far as I have tried Linux, the number of distros of which is nowhere near to what other members here would have tried but for the sake of comment I would list them up as:

1> SuSE 9.1: This was the first Linux OS that was ever distributed at a large scale in India by a Computer magazine: Digit. Actually I had to format my whole hard disk for more than 16 times before getting it installed and that is what I think almost every new user goes through (with a fewer number of formats though ). Anyway that was pretty good if I leave the problem I faced due to Missing ALSA drivers which were not available till then.

2> XandrOS: This was my second distro and I installed coz the punch line read: "Making Linux work for you!". But what I got was nowhere near to friendly interface rather than Icons like Windows. Had crippled functionality; I couldn't burn my CDs even!

3> Gentoo: Actually I never installed this thing. All I ever did was to boot from the CD which actually was a LIVE CD and came up on command prompt (shell) after booting up. EVen though I have never seen its desktop but it was the first time I ever realized what experts had to say: "You need to understand the Shell and the command if you want to run a Linux box".

4> Fedora: This I never used on my own computer but installed on my friend's coz his machine was a 64 bit, and I had got no other distro which could support 64 bit natively. Anyway using it was nice but I never like the interface. Its not so easy for the beginner too. That was all when it was in its 4th version. I cannot say as of now.

5> UBUNTU: This was the first time I ever used a Gnome desktop instead a KDE. Until I used Ubuntu, I has a particular complain for Linux: the lack of SMOOTH looks. Anyway this was a real easy distro both to be used and installed for both a newbie and expert. It comes with a decent set of software to get the work done.

6> Mandriva: For those who do not know, this is a new name of the same old reliable Mandrake Linux and is as good as the old avtar. I feel sorry for myself after using this distro. Actually it is really easy to use with nice looks, and lots of options. I never installed it on my machine until the name was changed from MANDRAKE to MANDRIVA. Actually I never liked (and still don't like) the name MANDRAKE. Mandriva 2006 was the first distro which could play all my Music (even in the MP3 format) and detect my soundcard; or in other words came with the ALSA drivers. Its my personal favorite in the distro-crowd and I would prefer its use to all newbies coz its the easiest to use and install. One need not fear about anything at all during the installation. Clicking next will do it fine (except that you do not click next when it says "USE COMPLETE HARD-DISK"). I think that if I would have installed this distro in my primitve days of experienceing linux, It would have been so much easier to learn this. In my personal opinion, it is a Learner's distro.

7> OpenSuSE 10.2: I have been using it for a while. "BEST OF ALL". Thats what I can say about this one. I can't install this due to some problem in my primary hard disk (and I do not plan to remove or replace it), so from sometime back I am using it over VMware. However as far as power, ease and Innovation is concerned, SuSE is just great. almost all one needs (apart from a new custom aplication over the net), everything is installed in a FULL system install or is available on disk (in case of default installation).

However the catch is installation. A complete newbie who never saw the terminologies used in Linux for devices is sure to destroy the data if he tries to mingle around with partitioning during the install process. The best way to install this extremely great distro for a complete newbie is to just click on 'next' while installation is in process.

Hope that is a help/comment good enough.

[eoin09]

I am primarily a mac user and care a lot about interface and basically how nice things look. I hear Kubuntu looks good, but what about Suse?

[nihil]

I am primarily a mac user and care a lot about interface and basically how nice things look.

No comment

I hear Kubuntu looks good, but what about Suse?

SuSE would be the distro I would select right now, given that criterion. They have just signed up a partnership agreement with Microsoft and MS will be supporting commercial installations.

Remember that Novell own SuSE. They are just as commercial and user aware as MS, so I would expect SuSe to move ahead of the game somewhat, given this recent partnership.

REMEMBER: The definition of a partnership is: "Two thieves who have their hands so deep in eachother's pockets that they cannot independently plunder a third"

[RoadClosed]

If you are considering SuSE condider the open source version. www.opensuse.org

It's what makes Linux beautiful.

[gore]

I don't like Ubuntu. It's Debian with a paint job and newer packages. My personal opinion of course. It has potential of course which has yet to be reached.

If a GUI is what you're after distro doesn't mean a thing since the GUI in Linux BSD and UNIX is something you can install yourself and use whatever you want. SUSE by default, has a nice one.

I have a Slackware box with Enlightenment E17 which puts most GUIs to shame. So in other words, use whatever you want, and look for window managers and desktops like KDE and Gnome and pick whatever looks good to you.

Ubuntu is very very different in the way root works which for me is a pain in the ass so I only used it to test and nothing more. I generally use SUSE and Slackware for Linux, and FreeBSD for BSD.

[jockey0109]

Seriously speaking, Ubuntu did not work for me EVER!! I am still using openSuSE 10.3. Ubuntu did not use the Bluetooth DUN connection to get packages off the net while it used the same connection at the same time to get the web paghes open on the same system the much anticipated compiz-fusion was not present in the menus!

The most important packages that can be installed were said that they were not made for the system I used! I have seen a lot of people who run an i686 machine and ubuntu says that the machine type is i386.

It crashes a lot on machine. However openSuSE 10.3 is a much better product. It did everything in the right way. I loved the oneclick install that they have added recentely! I have used compiz-fusion on opensuse 10.3 and it rocks. I defeated the AERO UI of vista in all aspects. I just love this OS.

I really hate the way of the root. You just cannot use your own password as root in any application which is not graphical and needs root access!!

[benstoked]

i am not a hardcore linux user, but i have not had any problems with ubuntu 7.04 . i have tried fedora(cores 4-7) and found them (personal taste) to be lacking. although the gui of choice for fedora was gnome, same as ubuntu, the unbuntu ran smoothly, install was comfortable. i would like to see an option for partition resize in the install, which it may have in the newer version.(easliy solved with gparted, but not used during the install).
I like to test OSes in VMWare, to allow me to get a feel for the flavor.
one aspect i enjoyed from ubuntu is the debian package management. with fedora, the rpms seemed no better than a zip file. the deb files installed with little user interaction. please bear in mind that my experience with other distros is hindered by lack of experience based on actual usage.

[gore]

rpm -i *.rpm

[Cider]

Hello everyone. I downloaded the Mandrake 2008 version from www.mandriva.com. Im trying to migrate from windows so its quite difficult for me.

Does anyone have a total newbie guide to install the OS, configuring when installed, installing drivers, installing games (I have checked out WINE through a google search)

I just want a tutorial on the most basic things. I have no idea about the command line etc etc.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks