Not sure where to put this question, so I am going to put it here.
I am interested in getting a Linux installation. Currently, I have 2x 1tb hard drives, 1 with Windows Vista Ultimate x64. I plan to get a third 1tb hard drive and then do a clean install of Windows 7 Business x64. The second disk is used for storage (I do a lot of video editing stuff, which is why I need so much space). I will install Linux on the third drive and dual boot with Windows 7.
Anyways, I was wondering, is OpenSUSE right for me? I am new to Linux after years of faithfulness to Windows. I asked my fellow geeks and they tell me that OpenSUSE is right for me. I was also informed that v11.2 is much better than v11.1. I need:
x64 OS
Very stable (minimal kernel panics and crashes)
KDE interface would be preferred (feature-rich)
Usuable
Good networking options
Speed is secondary for me. I began to consider my options:
OpenSUSE 11.2
Kubuntu 9.10
Mandriva 2010 release
Here are my specs by the way:
Intel q6600 overclocked to 3.6 GHz (originally 2.4 GHz)
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 Motherboard
4 GB RAM; Corsair Dominator DDR2
ATI HD 4890
Do you feel that OpenSUSE 11.2 is the best Linux choice for me? Why or why not? Thank you in advance for answering me.
Right now I am looking for an alternative to Windows. I have gotten sick of it crashing and freezing on me.
Although I know that Windows 7 is somewhat better than Vista which I use currently, I’ve decided to look for alternatives. I’ve also heard in recent years that Linux has become much more user friendly and widely supported by apps, which makes it more appealing.
Your best bet is to download the 64bit KDE Live CD and see how well it plays with your hardware. If you are happy with it, go ahead and install.
Also take time to read the various material for new openSUSE users on this forum and the wiki to clarify why openSUSE does things slightly differently from some other distros.
IMHO if you really want to learn Linux (openSUSE or others) do not start by using it on your main bread and butter system. Live cd’s can give a introduction but after that if you have access to another computer (it is always best to check hardware capatibility, Linux is different) use it to start. A lot of people attempt Linux with complex multi HD and raid systems before they know enough basics to not mess up things.
Do your self a favor and put openSUSE on a dedicated to learning computer (you can get a used computer for next to nothing). That way you can explore and break without fear. Now once you get further in understanding then by all means go for more elaborate setups. Just make sure you have fallback positions (backups) when things go wrong.
An alternative to LiveCDs is virtualization via VirtualBox or VMWare… both will provide a “playground” for you to test your hardware before committing to install.
Please stop posting that utter rubbish :sick:
My 4870 works perfectly fine on 11.2 x64 with the drivers from the repository :good:
You can only have problems if you try to install the driver that is downloadable from Ati’s website.
To install the drivers, open YaST > Software Repositories and click on “New”. Choose “From url” and enter the following url: http://www2.ati.com/suse/11.2/
As name, enter “Ati drivers” or somesuch.
Confirm anything with OK, and from YaST, enter “Software Management”. Here, enter “fglrx” in the search box and click “Search”.
Install the following two packages:
ati-fglrxG02-kmp-desktop
x11-video-fglrxG02
Reboot, and everything should be running fine. The above worked fine for me.
Please stop pushing your own experiences onto others. Fact is, ATI drivers are a major pain in the ass for A LOT OF PEOPLE. Just because you don’t have issues with them, doesn’t mean others won’t either. Just do a small search on this forum and see how many get frustrated with ATI. Their drivers are famously known to be ****. And no, drivers from repos are not excluded from problems either
I say download and try them all, its up to you in the end.
For the beginner though you may want to try one of the non major linuxes like Linux Mint, PcLinux, Mepis linux and Ultimate edition.
The reason is that these give you multimedia playback by default, distros like openSUSE, Ubuntu and Mandriva require a more “hands on” experience, so if you want to take it easy maybe one of the others might help with transition.
Personally I suggest Ultimate edition, its based on Ubuntu that you might have heard of but it comes loaded with lots of apps to experiment with.
I really like ultimate edition for its vast amount of preinstalled apps, it gives the new user a sense of the many apps linux has to offer.
Actually, ATI works fine for me with openSUSE-11.1 with my Radeon HD3450. I did note on a liveCD with 11.2 that the proprietary ATI driver had a hiccup when 11.2 was first released on the same hardware. I have not tried with the most current ATI driver nor with the mesa/xorg on the xorg site.
Still, this is more a caution for a new user. …
Glad to read you have 4870 working with 11.2. … But I think caution is prudent, and there no point in building up false hopes for new users with ATI devices, but caution and a warning is a far better approach.
But please continue to share your experiences, as it IS good to read of success stories.
If you install an additional partition to hold the /home directory. It really does not matter much. In Suse the home partition is created by default but in Ubuntu dialects /home resides on the root partition by default. This makes upgrading and installing other OS a bit of a pain when it comes to personal data. /home is where all your personal data and settings are stored. So when you install Kbuntu be sure to tell the installer you want an additional partition and mount it as /home. This makes moving between OS’s much much easier. You simply tell the installer to mount the home partition as /home and not to format it. Format and install the OS on root.
Note:You may not be able to moe desktop settings but your email documents music video etc can all be moved with out problems between distro’s and versions.
If you install an additional partition to hold the /home directory. It really does not matter much. In Suse the home partition is created by default but in Ubuntu dialects /home resides on the root partition by default. This makes upgrading and installing other OS a bit of a pain when it comes to personal data. /home is where all your personal data and settings are stored. So when you install Kbuntu be sure to tell the installer you want an additional partition and mount it as /home. This makes moving between OS’s much much easier. You simply tell the installer to mount the home partition as /home and not to format it. Format and install the OS on root.
Note:You may not be able to move desktop settings but your email documents music video etc can all be moved with out problems between distro’s and versions.
Well if you have your distro set up a separate /home partition then it makes things much easier, as even though yes you have to reinstall apps for each respective version of linux you try you wont have to do full data backups/restores each time as with a separate home your personal files will remain mostly untouched.
In this case maybe installing openSUSE first is a good idea as by default it uses a separate /home partition and then others you may want to try will simply overwrite the root partition and leave your home partition alone unless you dont take some sense of caution.
By the way I would not install Kubuntu, you want to use KDE witch is fine but Kubuntu is definitely not a good KDE distro.
If you want something in the Ubuntu family try regular ubuntu, it has Gnome yes that might not look all that fancy at first but the Ubuntu family is better at Gnome then KDE.
Also dont base your distro choice on just looks, by seeing your desire to use openSUSE or Kubuntu I can see you have seen what KDE looks like and it probably appeals to you because its similar in looks to Windows 7 or Vista.
Both openSUSE and Kubuntu use KDE as default, and even though it looks nice it does have some drawbacks.
Make sure to try out all the linux user interfaces, one might look nicer then another but looks as vista has taught us is not everything.
Indeed, one has taught us that looks are not everything. However, from what I hear, KDE OpenSUSE is fairly stable (11.2 anyways, I’ve heard otherwise about 11.1), user-friendly, and responsive. I am basing my decisions to use KDE based on features and functionality more so than anything else. I know that Gnome may be easier on hardware, but it does not have the feature set that the KDE does. Perhaps I will try a Gnome version at a later date.
Actually in terms of all out features Gnome and KDE are tied, although KDE does have a better way of setting up desktop widgets for those who like that sort of stuff.
But Gnome can be made to look real nice and work real nice, its just a tad more hands on but easy none the less.
