Newbie query: Ubuntu vs openSUSE

[James Freer]

On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 7:47 AM, Ric Moore <wayward4now at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 12/23/2011 02:04 AM, Rameshwar Kr. Sharma wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 11:37 AM, doug<dmcgarrett at optonline.net>  wrote:
>>
>>> Why not get a live CD for each of the systems, and run them.
>>> You may find that one system is much more to your liking
>>> than the other.  However, be aware that there are a number
>>> of desktop environments available.  There might be more
>>> for OpenSuse, I just don't know. There are some for
>>> variations on Ubuntu, such a Xubuntu, Kubuntu, and even
>>> Mint, which is a descendent, but not under Ubuntu control.
>>
>>
>> Well, it is to request to please point to point differentiate between
>> the two distros, if you can, just a request. Thanks.
>
>
> Heh, that's kinda like discussing religion and politics. It's usually
> avoided. OpenSuse is rpm package based, and Ubuntu is deb package based.
> Both offer pretty much the same software.
>
> Doug gave you great advice. If you're not handy with cd burning or have
> limited bandwidth, go to some place like on-disk.com and pay about $5 US for
> each distro's live CD and try them out to see what YOU like. For old and
> crusty machines Lubuntu is a good choice. I use Xubuntu as I like the XFCE
> desktop. Or maybe you'll like Unity with the standard Ubuntu install. It's
> hard for someone else to tell you what you'll like or why you should install
> which version of which distribution. But, by golly, you do have choices!
> Enjoy! Ric

I am also a xubuntu user... although i switched from ubuntu before the
days of unity. I much prefer the minimal desktop and if you've limited
bandwidth it would be a good place to start. I used opensuse for a
short while and i don't like rpm distros as updates seem to take far
longer.

A linux distro is very much a pesonal choice. I look closely at the
package manager and "under the bonnet" which is where opensuse was
lacking imo. I'd read distrowatch and choose one of the beginner
friendly distros as opposed to say slackware or gentoo which is harder
to set up although a well established respected distro.

james