Newbie query: Ubuntu vs openSUSE

[Billie Walsh]

On 12/23/2011 05:35 AM, Rameshwar Kr. Sharma wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 3:52 PM, Jamie Paul Griffin
> <jamie at kontrol.kode5.net>  wrote:
>
>> Having tried OpenSuse I can say that Ubuntu is certainly the better
>> choice, in my opinion. The package manager is superior and overall
>> finish and quality is better. I remember I came across an article
>> comparing the two where the author described YAST as "a pig" which
>> made me laugh; and i'm afraid that based on my experiences at that
>> time, I have to agree.
>
> Okay I don't know, may be Yast is the package manager, but **how**
> package manager of Ubuntu is better, can you please explain me a
> little?
>
>> Ubuntu have designed their system with new Linux users in mind. You
>> will have a really good system to learn on.
>
> Okk, then I must go with Ubuntu.
>
>> One thing you must consider when it comes to choosing a desktop
>> environment is the hardware on which you will use Linux, especially
>> the graphics hardware. The reason is that if you are using older
>> hardware you might find that newer versions of KDE4 and Unity, for
>> example, will be terribly slow and it could ruin your new
>> experience. Please bare that in mind. XFCE4 has been designed to
>> overcome some of those problems and so is more lightweight in terms
>> of memory, etc.
>
> Okay, my hard ware is nether too old nor is extremely new, its in
> between.
>
>> Don't forget that many distributions provide the option to have
>> discs sent to you by post. Some you may need to make a small
>> donation, others will be free. You can then use the liveCD option
>> or you could think about running them in a virtual environment,
>> like Virtual Box or VMWare.
>
> Okk, I didn't know this fact, I try then.
>

If your migrating from a Windows system the KDE desktop [ Kubuntu ] or
XFCE desktop [ Xubuntu ] will be more familiar to you and may make the
transition a bit easier. In Ubuntu the Gnome, and possibly Unity [ I
haven't really looked into Unity myself ], are more MAC like in their
setup.

As I read the list it seems that Unity is somewhat of a major departure 
from Gnome and was pushed out to the public quite early in development. 
You must understand that the developers are much more limited in what 
they can test on than the community at large. It's by pushing out to the 
public and the public filing bug reports that the interface gets "fixed" 
and matures much faster. When KDE4.x was first pushed out it was very 
immature and caused a lot of issues. As time has gone by it has matured 
almost to the point KDE3.x was when phased out, and keeps getting 
better. Given time Unity will mature and get better.

Asking which system [ Ubuntu or Suse ] is better is, as they say in the 
USA, like asking which is better, a Ford or a Chevrolet. Both are very 
good and the choice comes down to personal preference.

Many years ago in another life I worked in a garage. A guy came in and 
as his car was being worked on he made the remark that he loved his 
Pontiac Ventura but there was no way he would ever drive a Chevrolet. 
Pontiac was a MUCH better car than a Chevrolet. I didn't have the heart 
to tell him that his much beloved Pontiac Ventura was just a rebadged 
Chevrolet Nova and even had a Chevrolet motor in it.

When you get right down to the guts of it all Linux is Linux, like 
Chevrolet and Pontiac are/were both General Motors products and shared 
much. The part that makes for a different user experience is the bells 
and whistles that are added on. Some people like some bells and whistles 
better than they like others.

-- 
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain
the  people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the
government lest it come to dominate our lives and interests”.

- Patrick  Henry -


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