Open SUSE or Ubuntu - Which is better for someone moving from Windows?

Hey Guys,

Quiet for some time, i've been participating in this forum and i have noticed that the most popular choice for Linux OS is between Ubuntu and Open SUSE. I am basically a Windows+Linux user and have been using Fedora for around two years. I want to move to Ubuntu or Open SUSE. Can anybody provide the merits and demerits of these two over one another?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Sumit

openSUSE 10.3 is best distro i've used... ubuntu is easy... but if u wanna taste the real power of linux go for toungy SUSE

Post a poll

Ubuntu.. SuSE does not provide any flexibility. And Ubuntu has HUGE community support.

^^ i dint got u "FLEXIBILITY" for wat (iam noob)
but lookin at ur Experience "Krazy_About_Technology" go for Open suse 10.3

^^ SuSE has graphical tools to configure almost everything, and usually if you try to edit something manually, it screws up really bad.. Ubuntu also has a lot of GUI utilities, but manual editing has never been a problem

wat about Fedora or other Distro's ?

Well, thanks guys but what i am asking for is a side by side comparison of the two. That'll be of great help.

And moreover, Ubuntu is debian-easy. Installing packages will never be better and easy than on Debian.

Well, i would anyday recommend Ubuntu over Fedora, mainly cause Ubuntu is deb based (superior to rpm based distros) and because on the Ubuntu community (ubuntuforums.org). Though i'd recommend Linux Mint for a newcomer, as its also based on Ubuntu and has all codecs and all in place out of the box.

^^Kalpik Bro dont think he's much a new comer
he's usin fedora from moore than 2 years

OK. How much points out of ten will you guys give for these categories to Ubuntu 10.7, OpenSUSE 10.3, Fedora 7?
1. Ease of use
2. GUI
3. Configuration Tools
4. Multimedia (Out of the box or after installing codecs)
5. As a Development Platform
6. Stability
7. Value for Disk Space consumed (Coz i am a lil short of it on my lappy

)

Thanks!

azzu - A well established Linux user will never ask such a query. Cause to him/her, everything's nearly the same and he can survive on it without fussing about.

@Krazy_About_Technology - Maybe this site will help with that? Its sort of old though

While SUSE's looks are pretty neat, Ubuntu wins more in simple usability and flexibility

azzu said:
^^Kalpik Bro dont think he's much a new comer
he's usin fedora from moore than 2 years

Ya, i am not exactly a new comer. I have been with linux since the days of Redhat 9 became free. Last time i used linux, it was Fedora 6, although i have also worked on Mandrake and SuSE. Never got to try debian though. I Just lost touch since last 6 months. Had some disk space problem and i earn my living working on .NET Technologies. So had to compromise to keep VStudio and remove Linux. :-(

But i want to come back now

M

QwertyManiac said:
And moreover, Ubuntu is debian-easy. Installing packages will never be better and easy than on Debian.

Haven't you ever heard of pacman?

QwertyManiac said:
@Krazy_About_Technology - Maybe this site will help with that? Its sort of old though

Which site, Please give link.

M

I though users were quite happier with out of box support for programming provided by Fedora.
Ubuntu is good but you will need to intall extra libraries.
When it comes to providing a lot of tools, compilers, libraries out of the box, it's gotta be sabayon, which would edge out all. And if you're quite comfortable with linux then sabayon wouldn't be that hard to learn.

Krazy_About_Technology said:
OK. How much points out of ten will you guys give for these categories to Ubuntu 10.7, OpenSUSE 10.3, Fedora 7?
1. Ease of use
2. GUI
3. Configuration Tools
4. Multimedia (Out of the box or after installing codecs)
5. As a Development Platform
6. Stability
7. Value for Disk Space consumed (Coz i am a lil short of it on my lappy )

Thanks!

What you need to understand is, beneath the superficial enhancements made in each distro there is, everything is almost the same.

1. Ease of use: All the 3 have GUI tools for almost every task there is. Its only that the buttons are placed differently

2. GUI - All 3 have KDE and GNOME and etc variants with lots of eye candy. But overall I'd say OpenSUSE has one of the most good looking ones. But eye candy is a very customizeable thing and can be applied to any distro to look the way you want it to.

3. Conf. Tools - Just as I said in 1. all 3 will have configuration tools for every task that needs one. Linux has evolved a lot indeed.

4. Multimedia - None have Out of Box support but once codecs are installed, all are the same in functionality. Though I'd say Ubuntu's single-wrapper package 'Ubuntu-Restricted-Extras' is the easiest way to get FULL multimedia support in just one click.

5. Development - Devel. tools aren't exclusive to Distros, they are the same throughout Linux entirely. All have the same compilers, gui designers, etc in their repositories.

6. Stability - Can anything be more stable than a Linux Kernel?

Stability again is same in all 3. While talking about security bugs and other things related to it, its again related to the entire Linux outlook and not distro specific.

7. Disk Space - Ubuntu's probably the least on a CD-based installation (3-4 GB) but I can't say. It all depends on what you choose to install and what not. Say, a KDevelop app. on Ubuntu is same as one in SUSE or Fedora. Takes the same space, gives the same look, stability, everything.

Krazy_About_Technology said:
Which site, Please give link.

Oops, forgot to hyperlink, visit:
*polishlinux.org/choose/comparison/?distro1=Ubuntu&distro2=SUSE

Suse...!!!
Suse...!!!
Suse...!!!

openSUSE has toooooooooooooooo much of advantages over power users

M

I would suggest Suse as I have been able to run only this on my system. I tried Ubuntu after I heard lot of praise for it but I could not install it on my system as it did not support my system hardware (Strange as my system hardwares are not odd!!). Same problem happened with Fedora Core. Only Suse installed perfectly on my system (currently OpenSuse 10.3) and is working well. Besides nearly all the programs an average user needs are available for Suse. So u will not miss on anything. GUI is good too and looks friendly.

kalpik said:
^^ SuSE has graphical tools to configure almost everything, and usually if you try to edit something manually, it screws up really bad.. Ubuntu also has a lot of GUI utilities, but manual editing has never been a problem

Have you tried this on openSUSE 10.3? I think they have made a change and you can edit what you want using CLI, and you do have YaST in CLI.

The only problem with SUSE is the package management. But coming from fedora for 2 years, I don't think he is going to mind.

And even SUSE provides one click install and one click multimedia support from 10.3 onwards and now it is even there for 10.2.

I have used both SUSE and Ubuntu and I never really liked Ubuntu.

opensuse for eyecandy and fscking bad for using rpms.infact every rpm distros
For a newbie,no doubt default Ubuntu 7.10 Gnome is the best.for low bw ppl shud get Ubuntu DVD!.

Suse shud have been easily no.1 if they changed from rpm package manager to apt and dpkg.
So for newbies,Ubuntu!even for power users too.

^^ I think we have discussed this many times. Why don't you drop a line? I have, 'Improve package management or move to deb' in a survey conducted there.

And Sumit is not a newbie, he says he used fedora for 2 years.

M

QwertyManiac said:
6. Stability - Can anything be more stable than a Linux Kernel?

BSD kernels?

QwertyMaciac said:
Say, a KDevelop app. on Ubuntu is same as one in SUSE or Fedora. Takes the same space, gives the same look, stability, everything.

Not always. Novell, RH usually modify a few of their apps from the upstream versions. You will usually see Oo.org Novell version. Then another I have observed is that only the gaim of Fedora can transfer files with Yahoo Messenger, not the upstream version. There are quite a few such distro specific differences always.

Those are pretty rare. And its not necessarily spread to all applications alike. Like, A has B but C doesn't have B but has D. Minor differences apart, all I wished to imply was, don't waste your time choosing, pick one up and get over with it.

QwertyManiac said:
What you need to understand is, beneath the superficial enhancements made in each distro there is, everything is almost the same.

I understand that. i just wanted to know what can be achieved right away after installing, without a lot of tweaking and downloading. I have done all that, right from compiling builds of both 2.4 and 2.6 kernels to troubleshooting early XFree86 issues with th i810 driver. Point is, i want to know, what had changed in linux that with a windows users point of view i can admire.

Out of the box functionality has always been improved with each new version of linux distros, that i know. I just wanted an update from some of the respected linux users of this forum like you.

Anyways, thanks for the link. It provided ample information. I must've asked for it firsthand.

Thanks Everyone!

Cheers!

M

Look at sabayon linux.

y do u guys take so much time to choose a distro, is it so tough like choosing a bride

.

If you are shifting from Windows to Linux, I recommend Ubuntu because of the following reasons:

1) Ubuntu has THE best community support there is..which is something you will desperately need when you are a Linux newbie.

2) Ubuntu has THE best support from third party companies with regards to software, hardware drivers etc etc.

3) Ubuntu works out of the box with every damn piece of hardware there is...I can't say anythin about OpenSUSE as I have not used it, but Fedora, PCLOS, Sabayon, Sidux and ZenWalk all fall short when it comes to sheer compatibility out of the box.

4) Its Ubuntu!!!!!

Go for it!

vish786 said:
y do u guys take so much time to choose a distro, is it so tough like choosing a bride .

Dude, when u have to work side by side on a production windows environment and a personal use linux environment on same lappy, you cant go wrong again and again. I have to take an informed decision since i have been cut off from te lin world for some time, and am unaware of new things.

faraaz said:
If you are shifting from Windows to Linux, I recommend Ubuntu because of the following reasons:

1) Ubuntu has THE best community support there is..which is something you will desperately need when you are a Linux newbie.

2) Ubuntu has THE best support from third party companies with regards to software, hardware drivers etc etc.

3) Ubuntu works out of the box with every damn piece of hardware there is...I can't say anythin about OpenSUSE as I have not used it, but Fedora, PCLOS, Sabayon, Sidux and ZenWalk all fall short when it comes to sheer compatibility out of the box.

4) Its Ubuntu!!!!! Go for it!

i am not actually shifting from Windows, I use both windows and linux side by side. I just have been away from linux for some time.

@Krazy: Ah, sorry...my bad. In that case also, I'd say Ubuntu dude...works best, and has the best features...and also, I love to use Ubuntu because of the .deb system of package management. I used PCLOS (rpm) and Sabayon (emerge) for almost a year and a bit...not too happy with either for installing software and upgrading and things like that.

OpenSUSE, I don't have too much experience...but I will tell you one thing...I have been distrohopping for a good year and a half now, and Ubuntu is the ONLY distro I have used regularly for any length of time (6 months now!) ...

Its because its THAT good!

I have used OpenSuSE 10.3 too, but still, id vote for Ubuntu over OpenSuSE anyday.. For reasons i and many others have already mentioned above.. Rest, its your choice

+1 for ubuntu, better for softwares support... here Suse doesnt come upto that level

Ok. I'll go with UBUNTU. I sincerely hope Digit will be giving its DVD in the December anniversary issue, There is a huge demand for it.

They are giving SUSE 10.3 this month.

Hey Guys, Any comment on Linux Mint?

@Krazy: Mint is very meh...they add things like codecs, java etc to it out of the box..but it takes like 2 mins to install that on a fresh Ubuntu install for me...so all the attraction of Mint for that aspect is gone. In addition to that, kudos to Clement Lefebvre and all...but I HATE the Mint look, and Mint Install seems to me like a completely unnecessary addition, especially after excellent package management systems already...

Maybe for total noobs who cant live without .exe files it is value addition...but not for me. On top of that, mint update is waste...Update Manager works perfect for me...and I HATE the Mint MENU...its horrible for usability! Ubuntu's 3 menu system is way better...

Apart from that, Mint's got nothing...so Ubuntu stock is best for me.

Well trust me on this , i started getting interested in linux about 2 years ago and then i found Suse , ubuntu and all pretty much the same ( from a basic newbie view )
After tons of uninstalling reinstalling and uninstalling ..
(you get the picture right?) I have settled with Ubuntu. Why ? Main reason - great community support. Ubuntuforums.org is THE best community website you'll find. The IRC channel is also very helpful. You can settle into any of the main distros easily , its a very user specefic choice. But help wise , Ubuntu has a lot of it and its fairly easy to use. Also Ubuntu 7.10 comes with pre installed compiz-fusion. So .. ubuntu .. !
Mint is like a pre modded Ubuntu so if you are impatient go for that -

S

ill always go for ubuntu.
it got great support,GG has got great effects with compiz fusion.
am a linux newbie.
i have tried PCLOS,linuxmint,fedora 8 but i found ubuntu the best.
DL opensuse 10.3 right now but as the above comments suggest ubuntu ROX

hey Faraaz u don't like Mint coz u dont know wat's the nightmare of installing linux by a newbie with a DAilup conn
ya i know Ubuntu is Awesome go for it

yes was hopin For ubuntu GG this month fromDigit

@azzu: Different strokes for different folks...I have a 10000 kbps unlimited connection...

S

Offtopic:means arnd 10 mbps.
Njoy buddy.
someday india will also have such gr8 speeds.
BTW is digit providing GG or opensuse 10.3 this month??

Suse

^^ - Why?

^he is saying digit november issue bundled suse 10.3

If you do not want to fiddle around with terminals then Open SuSE. If you don't mind using command line a little then Ubuntu. I must say the GUI has improved a lot with Ubuntu Feisty and the new Gutsy. There's a GUI for configuring lot of things in Ubuntu now.

faraaz said:
^^ - Why?

I have given my reasons for using SUSE. Even wrote a review containing the things I don't like about it.

And I was speaking about the DVD being given with digit this month as Prakash said.

@aditya: yeh i later realised...sorry, never mind...

Ubuntu, is you have a active internet connection
else suse

OpenSUSE Rocks, and with YaST in it you can do anything with your computer in the easiest manner possible, Its more powerful than the COntrol Panel of windows. Ubuntu doesn't have any kind of tool like YaST

yes.but with low ram yast2 takes hell lotta time to configure even a small thing!that's where apt excels!

T

Debian package Management is way ahead of other counterparts.