Desktop Linux Shootout :-)

[vishalrao]

OK, this thread is for posting your own reviews/experiences of Linux on the desktop so that we can have a "shootout" to figure out which is best for desktop use 🙂

I plan to test and report about OpenSuse 10.3 (with KDE), Ubuntu "Gutsy Gibbon" 7.10 (with GNOME) and Fedora 8 (also with GNOME), on both my home desktop, an old laptop and a new tablet PC. On my office desktop I have Ubuntu "Feisty Fawn" 7.04 which is very nice.

Please post your hardware config and linux distro and version along with your installation/usage report with what is you think is good or bad, what (hardware/software) works and does not work for you etc..

I've already posted elsewhere about Ubuntu Gutsy Beta and OpenSuse 10.3 in their respective threads, will post the links here shortly.

We can end each "report" with a short summary/conclusion and a "pros and cons" section for quick reference.

What do you think?

My posts:

OpenSuse 10.3:
https://broadband.forum/linux/17096-opensuse-10-3-sneak-peek/#post118970

Ubuntu 7.10 beta:
https://broadband.forum/linux/16834-ubuntu-7-10-hotness/2/#post116878
https://broadband.forum/linux/16834-ubuntu-7-10-hotness/2/#post116938

Fedora 8 Test 3 (beta version 7.92) coming soon, probably tomorrow after my download finishes 🙂

edit:

Okay, here are my initial impressions about Fedora 8:

https://broadband.forum/linux/17155-fedora-8-a/2/#post119136
https://broadband.forum/linux/17155-fedora-8-a/2/#post119185

edit:

Here is my quick/first impressions of PCLinuxOS 2007:
https://broadband.forum/linux/17160-desktop-linux-shootout/4/#post120025

edit:

Tried out Mandriva One 2008.0, see https://broadband.forum/linux/17160-desktop-linux-shootout/5/#post120350

 

[Apoorv Khatreja]

Don't we already have a thing called distrowatch for that?

Anyway, I think a review answering all your questions can be found here -

 

[vishalrao]

Ah, "marketing" your choice of distro I see 😛Ya distrowatch and other sources are nice, but it's nicer to do your own little testing and shootout to pick your favourite distro rather than relying on other peoples' opinions 🙂

 

[kindofblue]

it's nicer to do your own little testing and shootout to pick your favourite distro rather than relying on other peoples' opinions 🙂

Developing a favouritism for a particular distro is fine but in the end it's what works for you that matters. A sane linux distro(as opposed to more arcane ones like gentoo) is but a linear combination of a kernal, window manager and a packaging system. THis infact comes across to me as the greatest versatiltiy of linux and the general reason for unity in diversity in the free software world. In spite of never having used PC LInux for example, I can vouch that there won't be too many things you can do in it taht you can't do with ubuntu or Fedora(and vice versa).

That said, my own distro of choice 😛 is Fedora.

[*]I like their aggresive release cycle - it ensures you are on the bleeding edge,
[*]I like the way it's supported by means of regular updates etc.,
[/list]
[*]It's a huge movement so there's plenty of community support.
[/list]
[*]Plenty of choices during installation and all possible conceivable methods of installation (but the flipside is having to download 4 gigs for a distro)
[/list]But it doesnt have innovative installation strategies like ubuntu's wubi. So I feel what's best is what works for you...

 

[vishalrao]

Yup, Fedora has gotten a reputation for maybe being a bit unstable because they typically like to be on the "cutting edge" or "bleeding edge", but I'm hoping Fedora 8 turns out to be as stable as Ubuntu or OpenSuse.

 

[kindofblue]

Interestingly, this might interest Apoorv, the PC LinuxOS promoter 😛
Tectonic: Tectonic

 

---

[vishalrao]

Added a couple of posts about Fedora 8:
https://broadband.forum/linux/17155-fedora-8-a/2/#post119136
https://broadband.forum/linux/17155-fedora-8-a/2/#post119185

So my conclusions are:

Overall ranking or order of preference:

1. Ubuntu 7.10 - for being clean and simple
2. openSUSE 10.3 - for being polished and meticulous
3. Fedora 8 - for being a good balance of power and simplicity

For home use:

1. Ubuntu 7.10 if you like GNOME
2. openSUSE 10.3 if you prefer KDE and/or want power config options via GUI.
3. Fedora 8 if you're a fanboy 😛

For corporate/office use:

1. openSUSE 10.3 if you want KDE
2. Fedora 8 if you want GNOME
3. Ubuntu 7.10 if you're a fanboy again 😛

Fedora 8 is not as polished (at least Test 3 isn't) as Ubuntu 7.10 or openSUSE 10.3 and there might be a problem with multimedia codecs and proprietary graphics drivers etc, but these are minor annoyances.

What I plan to do is settle on openSUSE 10.3 on my home desktop (I have Ubuntu Feisty on my office desktop) because I like KDE's look-and-feel and it's apps and I like the power-user-friendly GUI based configuration and control.

I might later switch back to Ubuntu Gutsy if openSUSE shows signs of instability, bloat, or maybe even if I can't get desktop effects to work by the time Gutsy is released 🙂

 

[Apoorv Khatreja]

Ok, now that my exams are finally over, I'm going to try out new distros, the first one being SAM Linux Desktop 2007. Then I'm going to try out Slackware 12.0. And maybe Kubuntu Gutsy Gibbon too. So keep waiting for the review of SAM, it's coming soon!

 

[power]

Stay away from slackware if you do not enjoy compiling and making your own packages .

 

[Apoorv Khatreja]

I do enjoy doing that actually! I love coding and fiddling around. I was using PCLOS because I was lazy and did not have a lot of time to spend, but now that I'm free, I want to spend some time poking things, and learning more about the structure of things in Linux.

 

[vishalrao]

ya, i started off with slackware back in 1998 and enjoyed compiling stuff and hand-editing files for configuration and searching the web for howtos etc. i feel its the best distro if you want to learn linux and get proficient in administration.then along came redhat with its gui anaconda installer and KDE then i started to get lazy and went for it for a year or sothen there was mandrake which was an "optimised version" of redhat so i went with that for a couple of years.then i tried suse (9.x) when it was still free and before novell took over and stopped releasing a free version.then when openSUSE came out i tried version 10.2 which was bad.then a friend was telling me about the cool desktop effects that came easily with ubuntu feisty so i tried kubuntu and ubuntu.got hooked onto ubuntu/gnome in the process of just wanting to try desktop effects!so now im using openSUSE 10.3 with KDE. its much better than 10.2 was. but the packaging system is a bit slow and i cnat get desktop effects to work properlyso i might return to ubuntu gutsy when its released.. 🙂waiting for SAM linux review... although i've previously tried some i avoid the smaller/less popular distros like arklinux, mepis, gentoo, pclinuxos etc

 

[netfreak]

Slackware is the best distro if you want to learn Unix way of doing things. Its a pain to setup X and other things on it, cuse you have to learn about how things work. But thats the power as well. One of the most imp things to learn if you plan to get into IT.It is the most flexible distro out there.

 

[Apoorv Khatreja]

although i've previously tried some i avoid the smaller/less popular distros like arklinux, mepis, gentoo, pclinuxos etc

Ahem.. You do realise that a die hard PCLinuxOS fanboy is an active member of this forum?

And anyway, PCLinuxOS is numero uno on distrowatch (as pointed out by somebody over here)

P.S. Looks like SAM will have to wait. I have to backup things from PCLOS, which is currently screwed. Could you guys please help me get PCLinuxOS back alive?

I've posted my problems on the PCLOS forums, but haven't got any good replies. Read these -

PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS

It seems that somehow my root partition has been mounted as read only. Some guy over there told me to edit my /etc/fstab which I did, but without success. Could you guys help me out?

 

[Sushubh]

now their site is down for maintenance... whoa. they use joomla!

 

[netfreak]

1. Boot with DSl / Puppy Linux / Ubuntu... basically some live CD and get a root shell (sudo su)2. Mount /dev/sda2 (default should be RW) on /mnt/sda2 [or any other location of your choice]3. touch /mnt/sda/etc/fstabIf #3 fails then m,ost probably ect3 partition is corrupt. Unmount it and fsck.