currently I am using Ubuntu Gnome 14.04 as my operating system, but since Ubuntu is moving more and more towards mobile (touchscreen, tablet/ phone) and away from a normal desktop computer I am thinking about moving from Ubuntu based towards something else (Debian is not an option as I tried it already and did not like it that much) as I believe that normal desktop users will be ignored more and more.
Before switching however, I am concerned about a few things:
How easy is it to install Spotify? As I am an addict to it, it is essential I can listen to it. I understand that there is a Spotify-installer in Packman, but do I need to change a lot of stuff with every upgrade of Spotify (to bad Spotify does not provide rpm packages).
How is memory usage of openSuse compared to Ubuntu Gnome? I have 8192 Megabytes of RAM, so it is not really an issue, but I like efficient systems so I can put the memory to use in programs instead of just running an operating system.
That would depend on which desktop you plan to move to? Installing spotify is easy on any distribution realistically. Are you intending to use KDE? If so, it’s a great desktop environment and on par with Gnome as far as memory usage is concerned. OpenSUSE tends to be one of the best implementations of it as well. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
You don’t give any information about your system, plus why do you think that Ubuntu will “abandon” desktop support? What evidence do you have to support this hypothesis?
That would depend on which desktop you plan to move to?
I believe his title says openSUSE Gnome.
You don’t give any information about your system, plus why do you think that Ubuntu will “abandon” desktop support? What evidence do you have to support this hypothesis?
Well his reasons for thinking of switching from Ubuntu to another Linux distro is not really important, yes? Btw - Ubuntu does seem to be moving towards a more *mobile *OS, and I know many people who have jumped ship bc of this…and their Unity and Amazon nonsense lol
How easy is it to install Spotify? As I am an addict to it, it is essential I can listen to it. I understand that there is a Spotify-installer in Packman, but do I need to change a lot of stuff with every upgrade of Spotify (to bad Spotify does not provide rpm packages).
How is memory usage of openSuse compared to Ubuntu Gnome? I have 8192 Megabytes of RAM, so it is not really an issue, but I like efficient systems so I can put the memory to use in programs instead of just running an operating system.
I have used Gnome on both and not found any noticeable difference between SUSE and Ubuntu in regards to memory usage. SUSE has been a difficult change for me though bc I was so invested into the Ubuntu, and then later Linux Mint (highly recommended btw), that I felt like I was re-learning Linux all over again. I was/am unfamiliar with YaST and Zypper, and it’s not like I use Linux as my main OS, so I am still very much a *newb *even though I’ve been using it for about 4 years. My work requires Windows, and so Linux has always been just a hobby. However the forums have been pretty awesome so far and you can usually get great support and feedback from people here.
Side note - like I said earlier, Linux Mint is a great Ubuntu alternative (although I don’t believe it offers Gnome as a DE unless maybe you install it yourself) and offers the traditional desktop feel like openSUSE. They offer 4 main DE’s - MATE, Cinnamon (my favorite), Xfce, and KDE - and with their next 3 updates being based off Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, they now have a simple upgrade plan. Mint is based directly off of Ubuntu, so everything you had in Ubuntu will work on Mint (at least I haven’t found any differences). Just thought I’d throw this out there in case you didn’t already take a look at it. Hope they dno’t ban me from the SUSE forums for talking about Mint hahahaha.
or less than 600 MB RAM really in use. I never recall having RAM problems with 2GB in common office/surfing or amateur graphics use.
I recall the old days of running with 192 MB RAM with *buntu, but that was 32 bit and Gnome 2…
Wonder what will be the result in gnome, I never use it.
In kde4 minimal install, I mean I install it with xfce 4.10 with just the base and session
I can see it work as light as xfce for my work., Oh I maybe wrong but I feel it is more
snappy than xfce on my machine.
Intel Core i7-720QM Processor (4 Cores with hypertreading)
8GB RAM (DDR3, 1066 MHz)
GeForce GT330M Graphics card
1 TB harddrive (2* 500 Gb)
Wireless 802.11 B/G/N (supplied via RTL8191SEvB Wireless LAN Controller)
Gigabit LAN
Screen resolution 1680* 945 pixels (on 18.4 inch)
The main reason for moving from Ubuntu Gnome is the turning of Ubuntu into a mobile OS, with less interrest towards the desktop experience by the developing team.
Then there is the MIR as an Ubuntu “only” display server, which concerns me with running Gnome shell on my desktop. I believe that it will be hard for the developing team of Ubuntu Gnome to get the Gnome stack working with MIR as all GNOME upstream development will be going towards Wayland.
I can work with Unity, but QML is not really my thing, as I like GTK apps and the feel of a GTK based desktop. I tried Linux Mint for a few months as a seperate install (just like Debian Gnome shell), but liked them not as much as I did Ubuntu Gnome.
The Amazone thing is also something that concerns me. I like like my privacy, which makes running Unity a no go.
I tried Yast during a live session via USB drive, and I think it is a nice tool to do the system administration with. Everything I need is under 1 rooftob, making it easy to do the stuff that needs to be done.
I am going to do some more live sessions with other DE’s too, to compare the experiences of different DE’s with eachother. I know that OpenSuse tends to be more oriented on KDE, but my true love lays with GTK (which means Gnome (shell) and/ or XFCE).
Yes you can turn it of, but I still rather not use a desktop with the Amazon search option.
As Ubuntu (with Unity) is removing more and more pieces of Gnome, I can no longer accept it as a Gnome distribution. That is the main reason I went from Ubuntu to Ubuntu Gnome (also because XFCE development looks to be at a standstill at the moment with 4.12 XFCE being long overdue.).
Fedora is no option simply because every release the end user is like a beta tester (just fresh Gnome components, with only the guarantee it will compile), and I need some stability as my notebook is also the machine I make my money with.
I don’t think anyone has answered the Spotify part of your post so I’ll do that. There’s 3 ways of listening to Spotify (as far as I know on openSUSE):
You download the Windows .exe and run it through Wine (this didn’t work out too well for me on oS 13.2)
Convert the Linux preview .deb to .rpm via alien. Here’s a link to instructions: http://blog.gonzih.me/blog/2014/05/27/installing-spotify-linux-beta-on-opensuse-13-dot-1/
However, this is meant for 13.1. I got it working with 13.2 though by installing two missing dependencies manually. I forgot which packages they are, but for that, I wouldn’t really recommend this way either.
My most recommended method for listening to Spotify is through Spotify’s web player, which is pretty fantastic, if you ask me. You could even set up a .desktop file that opens the site on your favorite browser with 1 click. You don’t have to worry about breakage or workarounds when upgrading because it’s all accessable via your browser.
Thank you for answering my Spotify question. This took away my last concern. At this moment I am installing openSuse Gnome on my computer. If I have any questions or need help I will post a new thread in the support section of this forum.
Those are good specs (a LOT better than mine… practically double the cores, (4 v.2 ), RAM (8 v. 4) and hard drive (2*500 v. 256 SSD) ). Performance-wise openSUSE Gnome (3.14) works very nicely. I didn’t notice a terrible lag or anything, or anything so bad to make me hesitate. Worse thing is the second or two for the Activities screen to show the first time, but like I said my system is roughly 1/2 of your system in most ways.
I am still (re) learning how to do things with openSUSE, being (still am on the family desktop) a long-time Ubuntu user but it isn’t so bad. Good place to look for program that may not be in the repository is the OBS (openSUSE Build Service). It’s kinda like the PPAs, but completely different
I have been having some thoughts about this too. While on the other hand I can understand why they make most of their choices, and it works for them. Ubuntu provides a nice OS to compete with Windows and Apple, but at what price?
I have found that openSUSE runs nicely in the middle… not as “strike out on your own” (e.g. Mir, Unity, etc.) that to some degree feels like “vendor lock-in”, and not as FOSS-only-way-to-go as Fedora. It is a realistic middle-ground where it believes and follows Open Source, but it doesn’t make it difficult to add proprietary bits and codecs. Of course, once you know what you are doing then it is all moot anyway…
Always the wise thing to do; try, try and try again. I’ve tried a number of distributions and desktop environments before I started settling down with the “big 3”; Fedora, openSUSE and Ubuntu. If I could ever get my ADD under control, I might even be able to narrow down this list to just one (…well, maybe 2… but three isn’t too many, is it? )
Pfft, I answer it in my 1st reply lmao rotfl!
I posted the link where I got the Linux version working, and yes, with much difficulty you can get the Windows one in Wine. I know Spotify is working on a supported version of their application, so hopefully openSUSE will have it’s own installation.
if you want to use opensuse, go for KDE version. opensuse is more KDE oriented.
as for easiness of working with it, i can tell you that it is a bit less stable than ubuntu, maybe it is KDE’s fault, i do not know. unity, in my opinion, is the most polished DE in the linux world. i tell you this without any grudge, i am using both distribution. for me, as a regular user, there are only three distribution: ubuntu, opensuse, fedora. of course, other users may have other experiences. i even had a topic in this subforum where i have posted some of the glitches i have encountered using opensuse. nobody dares to answer that thread!
On Sun 07 Dec 2014 05:36:02 PM CST, rich1974 wrote:
if you want to use opensuse, go for KDE version. opensuse is more KDE
oriented.
Hi
How do you come to this conclusion?
If I were a betting man looking at the fora, there are a lot more KDE
issues than other DE’s. That would lead me to the conclusion that there
are more problems with KDE than the other desktops available?
I think the openSUSE community caters for lots of different desktop
environments for end users, I keep blackbox building for probably one
or two users, last time I deleted the project from OBS I got asked
where it went…
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.12.28-4-default
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