Well I did give openSUSE a shot on my secondary computer, and to be honest I dont like it very much.
Sure it looks pretty but as a functional OS it is not quite working out.
Firstly my webcam does not work very well, thats a major killer as I do webcam conferences at my job… It works fine with Ubuntu 10.04 and some of the other distros but openSUSE 11.3 has issues, the picture is ugly and I cannot adjust anything to make it better.
Secondly, graphics are flaky, thanks to the incredibly stupid removal of Sax2 without areplacement and having openSUSE’s autoconfig not be as good as some others, again I got to tip my hat to Ubuntu 10.04 that seems to do well on my current hardware.
Thirdly it just feels like a re dress of 11.2, the wallpapers, the default color scheme its basically the same as 11.2 just with some blue splashed in, sure we can make jokes at ubuntu at being “turd bown” but hey at least in 10.04 it looks like its own OS, openSUSE 11.3 now has the same default color scheme as vista and windows 7, blue and green.
Sure the green makes sense considering the openSUSE logo is a lizard but the added in blue makes it feel like every other blue themed OS out there (and i am with Mark Shuttleworth on the commentary that too many mainstream OS’s use blue) I like my linux to stand out when I show it off rather it be ubuntu’s “turd brown” or linux mints green themes (heck linux mint looks more like openSUSE then openSUSE does right now)
So yeh in a nutshell sorry to say but Ubuntu has won this round for me and I will probably keep Ubuntu 10.04 (or linux mint Isadora that I am now running on my laptops) for the foreseeable future.
Hey its all about what works for you, I am not saying that Ubuntu 10.04 is a paragon of virtue as I have had some issues with it but as it stands I like it more then openSUSE 11.3
I will keep my eye out on 11.4 though, I might give Ubuntu Maverick a shot when that comes out and give openSUSE 11.4 a shot when that starts its alphas and I will see how that goes.
More then likly though I will probably keep ubuntu for the next year or so before hopping again, I have a pattern with it:
LTS releases work pretty well
the following .10 release is either pretty good like 6.10 or pretty bad like 8.10
then the odd numbered .04 release will suck (I have had issues with with 7.04 and 9.04, 7.04 just did not work on my hardware and 9.04 was bug city)
and the odd numbered .10 release will be pretty fair and quite usable.
I think I am seeing a similar pattern with openSUSE, 11.0 seemed pretty fair for me, 11.1 was not so good, 11.2 was pretty decent, 11.3 is not so good but if my pattern keeps constant 11.4 will be a good distro.
Of course I cannot predict the future, Ubuntu 10.10 could blow monkey chunks and so might openSUSE 11.4, or 11.4 might be pretty decent… who the heck knows, I just know what works for me right now.
I can’t comment on the technical problems you are experiencing, but I don’t understand you lengthy complaints about the colors. You know, Linux as well as virtually all desktop environments are so incredibly technically advanced nowadays, you can even change the wallpaper.
Current Ubuntus are not turd brown anymore, but rather “hit you in the eye” purple. And why should SuSE look different with each new version? What is happening under the hood counts, since the looks can be adapted to your needs within any linuxoid operating system anyway (it’s amazing how many users are wasting so much time writing about default looks instead of simply changing them). Ubuntu does not have SaX2 either and basically uses the same autodetection for peripheral devices as Ubuntu. The removal of SaX2 is just a logic step, nothing “incredible stupid” - it is / was a tool to configure the xorg.conf, which is obsolete in current versions of x.org.
And you do not have to be sorry. You seem to see a contest between SuSE and Ubuntu, but there is not. Use whatever you please, it’s okay.
Tara,
You’re one that makes no secret of jumping back & forth. You know what? It’s OK!!
This is Linux you can do that. Don’t worry about the fanboy few I don’t know what their problem is, but most here are fine ( I know I am) with your jumping back& forth.
Even I do it if something in OPensuse doesn’t work, I’ve got either PCLOS or Ubuntu on the other PC. It also certainly doesn’t hurt to know another distro & how it runs on your HW.
So don’t be apologetic, be a Linux user & Proud of it!
Well yes complaining about the default theme is kind of silly, but I am still kind of dissipointed taht the artwork team for 11.3 was so lazy this time compared to some of the arteork I have seen for the distro in the past.
As for auto config in openSUSE 11.3 it doesnt seem to do as well for me as the one in Ubuntu, but thats because on my other machines where i need proprietary drivers Ubuntu seems to do a much better job at configuring my setup.
My husband has a new laptop that has an ATI card and it was picked up by ubuntu and it works quite well after the driver install (except the boot screen flicker, but its a minor thing)
But openSUSE fails on his machine, he not only needs the driver for his internet card but the video driver in 11.3 doesnt seem to work that well.
Well, for one it is just a matter of taste, you know? And second: the typical blue / white / grey combination is so wide spread simply because it is indeed functional for most users (and it was most surely not invented by Microsoft, even early Commodore-GUIs featured these colorschemes). I myself do not like that bright looks either, but I adapted the settings and now it looks more like a →Guinness beer (that’s my own creation there). I am sure most users would rather jump off a cliff before using such looks. It’s a matter of preferences and personal need for functionality. Distributional branding usually tries to satisfy as many demands as possible. These demands do not necessarily have to be yours.
Proprietary drivers do not really set systemwide configuration, not within openSUSE and not within Ubuntu. I personally use the NVidia-settings for most screen related issues on any system I use, but they do act user specific. I recommend them (with an NVidia-card of course).
I am not very familiar with ATIs, but as far as I know there are solutions for these typical symptoms which are not hard to implement. Of course, that means fiddling around and it seems like Ubuntu is better at letting run stuff out of the box in some cases. For me that is rather irrelevant, since I am able to configure stuff myself anyway. There are some issues of Ubuntu which in no way I would like to have experience with, for example the understaffed package building team, the ‘sudo’-thing, the rather loveless implementation of KDE ← all this is a matter of personal preferences, experience, point of view (!) and many other parameters which are unique to my way of using Linux. These attitudes are in no way negotiable to what pretence you or anyone else have towards an operating system. It’s just my deal. And that’s why I would never ever bash or diss a distribution except for impartial parameters (Linpus Linux comes to my mind, this really is a bad system).
Not that I think you are bashing here, but you do seem to like watching a competition going on while there is not. After all you are comparing apples and oranges here…
I know, I just find blue themes kind of boring as a default
Proprietary drivers do not really set systemwide configuration, not within openSUSE and not within Ubuntu. I personally use the NVidia-settings for most screen related issues on any system I use, but they do act user specific. I recommend them (with an NVidia-card of course).
Actually the ATI config I have seen on Ubuntu seems pretty thorough , seems to work well
I am not very familiar with ATIs, but as far as I know there are solutions for these typical symptoms which are not hard to implement. Of course, that means fiddling around and it seems like Ubuntu is better at letting run stuff out of the box in some cases. For me that is rather irrelevant, since I am able to configure stuff myself anyway.
I just like easy configurations of monitors and stuff, and honestly at this stage Ubuntu seems better at it then openSUSE now with sax2 out of the picture.
There are some issues of Ubuntu which in no way I would like to have experience with, for example the understaffed package building team, the ‘sudo’-thing, the rather loveless implementation of KDE ← all this is a matter of personal preferences, experience, point of view (!) and many other parameters which are unique to my way of using Linux. These attitudes are in no way negotiable to what pretence you or anyone else have towards an operating system. It’s just my deal. And that’s why I would never ever bash or diss a distribution except for impartial parameters (Linpus Linux comes to my mind, this really is a bad system).
sudo never bothered me, considering that OSX uses it and it works well for those who dont like too many passwords to deal with (me I can deal with an admin account, but meh)
I know su is supposed to be more secure then sudo but I change my password enough not to worry.
And I agree Kubuntu is ****, though KDE is pretty fair if you install it separately or install linux mint KDE which has always been better in my experience.
Not that I think you are bashing here, but you do seem to like watching a competition going on while there is not. After all you are comparing apples and oranges here…
No I weigh the good and the bad of all linuxes, I like linux as a`whole but I do use linux for production and whatever works best is what I will use.
No I weigh the good and the bad of all linuxes, I like linux as a`whole but I do use linux for production and whatever works best is what I will use.
Yes, true, but you see what has happened in the past when you compared Ubuntu and SuSE in here - I myself do not have a problem with it, I suppose most members in here do not either, but it tends to kick off flamewars (which needs only few participants) pretty often with very little outcome. I do notice that you try to avoid such wars, but on the other hand: what kind of answers do you expect within a SuSE forum? The ones who will answer in such a thread are mostly SuSE enthusiasts, and those who are not will not even bother to read this thread. No devs will read it, it will not change the fans mind, it will not have any positive outcome after all except for “Uhuh, so you are happy with Ubuntu and not so happy with SuSE these days” with high potential of turning into offtopic battles. If you wish to discuss such stuff, write me a pm and we’ll have some nice disputes, but starting such threads in public is simply contraproductive. It makes no sense.
Although there are major differences between the two (DEB vs RPM, Gnome as default vs KDE as default etc.) they both fall under the category of LINUX. So it doesn’t matter which one you use. Personally I also like Ubuntu. It’s called ‘choosing what you like best and what works for you’. That’s the good thing about Linux, you get to choose what you like. You don’t get such options in the MS world or even the OS X world (although OS X is based off Unix)
I really like the (Gnome) color scheme in openSUSE. Is it different from the subtle dark greens and blacks in KDE? It is the first time I have only changed the wallpaper in any Linux distribution.
OK, I also changed the default menu to MintMenu.
I have had no technical issues what-so-ever which tends to be the case in every distribution I run as I deliberately pick my kit for Linux compatibility. I don’t have a web-cam; the Internet doesn’t need to see another fat geek in his underwear* so I can’t comment on that.
On Linux Forums dot Org, I am what’s known as a distro-sl%t which means I try loads of different distros just because I can. Ubuntu was always my home though. I am in to my third week on openSUSE and apart from my laptop and netbook which run Slackware and Zenwalk respectively, I haven’t tried a single distro**. Which has got to be some kind of record.
I apologise for the image you now have in your head.
** I did try MenuetOS in a VM
I used Ubuntus Gnome at the beginning, but what always never worked was that it kept the DVD in it and never released it by clicking the button.
With OpenSuse 11.2 and Gnome (default) this worked fantastic. But now with KDE as default it doesn’t. I have to eject it via command again.
The other thing was that Ubuntu printer support was somewhat better. I did not have to install any drivers for my aged Brother HL-2040. It was able to print right away.
OpenSuse has somewhat more problems. It does recognize the printer but i have to run cups and install the driver manually to get it going.
So there are some pro’s and con’s.
Point is, no distro i tried is 100%. You always have to work on some issues.
Besides, right now i like KDE more since it has better software (my humble opinion).
Most people i see like to rant about the other distro (which ever it is), but from where i can see there is always something that does not work the way you want. I made my peace with this and be happy now.
If a particular distro works best, that’s the distro you should use.
Hehe. Interesting responses. Chrysantine - nice icon! Is that new?
I switch back and forth too. And, since I’m running both now, on different boxes, I’m kinda tending to agree with you. Nothing scientific - it just seems to work a little easier. And that is AFTER I’ve set everything the way I like it.
AND, as for color, and initial color schemes being important, or not? You know, how a woman smells isn’t very important either - you can wash her off, after all. But somehow, that first smell has a lasting impact. You can reverse the sexuality of the roles there, if you’ve a mind to. No matter.
Onward, forward, to more important things - like what kind of beer I’ll drink tonight!
Hey, use what you want; I have Ubuntu for the family and I fool around with openSUSE (11.3), Ubuntu (will upgrade to 10.10 when its out) and Fedora 13 (KDE most recently).
Yes they all have their own issues, strengths and weaknesses. I wish I could take the parts I like from each and roll them up into one (note: this is different than saying I wish there was only one distro).
If you are looking for a good KDE distro, give Fedora a try. I know, “aren’t they a Gnome distro?”, I didn’t expect much from their KDE at first but was surprised with how well it DOES work. Some of that may be from the Mesa driver with my Intel card, but I have been pleasantly surprised!
The Desktop effects (which openSUSE doesn’t allow), the Plasma Netbook Workspaces (I can use Fedora’s… openSUSE looks like Beta) and the styling from login screen to desktop (yeah,… even though it’s blue) work very well (so far). I haven’t had a chance to test the webcam, but usually I find Fedora in second place behind Ubuntu and in front of openSUSE in supporting it.
Like I said, though, they each have their strengths and their weaknesses and the only way to really see them is to try other distributions for comparison sake (good or bad).
And that’s why I would never ever bash or diss a distribution except for impartial parameters (Linpus Linux comes to my mind, this really is a bad system).
or even the OS X world (although OS X is based off Unix)
I really like the (Gnome) color scheme in openSUSE. Is it different from the subtle dark greens and blacks in KDE? It is the first time I have only changed the wallpaper in any Linux distribution.