Fedora/Ubuntu/Mepis
 

Ok
I am using Pro Mepis Linux at the moment but want to switch because I HATE their community. Some posts dont get replied to for like 6 months, its basically a 1 man show etc.
Dont get me wrong It is the BEST linux I have used so far in tyerms of Just Works. and giving a user less paranoid security hassles.

I want to switch preferably to Gnome based Distro and I dont really mind Apt vs RPM etc.

Ubuntu caught my attention and installed it, looks great, awesome community and I would use it if it wasnt for their security system, one has to SUDO everything from terminal and there is no way out of the box to log into as a ROOT user from the login screen. So I cant use the GUI for things like installing apps etc. Also it's having problems picking up my Windows Partinions where I have to use some work related stuff.

Then I saw FEDORA C3 and it looks really great, went to the website etc. love what they want to do and the community seams geared.
3 BIG questions from me.

1. Does it have an option like MEPIS that I will be able to log on as root and not have to use the Terminal for any system modifications ( installing, upgrading, saving edited scripts etc. ) This is a real pain in Ubuntu.

2. I have a nVidia FX 5200 on my PC and it looks like a real mission to get it working with FC3. Is it?

3. How easy is it for a relative newbie? been playing with linux for about 6 months.

Mepis is able and good in all the above but the community sucks and its a bit of a bloated distro. Also the 1 man show I cant really seem to like so thats the reason for the switch.

I dont like distro hopping all the time but its inevitable I suppose.

Distros I have narrowed it down to are these.

Mepis - Awesome but 1 man show, bloated, Community sucks ( almost non existant ) uses KDE on default.

Ubuntu Awesome community, SUDO for everything sucks. Windows partitions problem in picking them up ( might and probably is my limited knowledge. )

Suse - Missing a lot of things if one dont buy the pro versions., dont want the whole corporate thing.

Mandrake - Good but also mainly but basically the same gripe as Suse and the whole KDE thing.

Fedora: Community seems good, but hardware support ( for my display card ) looks like a problem.

As for Ubuntu: just type and change the root password. Then you can login/su to root.

1. You can login as root with GDM. You can disable it with gdmsetup.
2. For my NVIDIA GeForce 4 440 Go livna.org kernel-module-nvidia RPMS works great.
3. RPMS, yum, apt, synaptic and great community makes it pretty newbie-friendly.

Sounds like another "religious war" in the making - the "true believers" will propound their "chosen path". And never be dissuaded.
I gave up on RH9; RPM-dependency hell chased me away like so many others. Never been inclined to try any of the FC?.

Ubuntu I setup on a Win98 replacement I did for my lady.
Didn't last long.

Currently has Mepis on it - seems a good fit.

Each to their own - and the requirements change over time.

Mepis has another forum which I found quite good.

http://www.mepislovers.org/

will that give me full access to the system without having to sudo all the time?
EDIT: OK I tried this and typed in root as username and my psw. It works like I wanted. So far no asking to go to terminal and run as root. Thanks a lot for the help. I tried for about a week to get simple answer out of anyone ;)

So you guys recon FC3 is a bad move then? Should I stick with Ubuntu?

hey bro,

i used fedora core 1, 2 and 3... then simplyMEPIS 3.3 and now ubuntu hoary...

the WORST experience of all for me? fc3.

why?

1. screen locks up at boot time as my nvidia fx 5700 cannot be "detected" or whatever... had to boot in using my age-old ati onboard gpu and then installing e nvidia official driver... and configuring xorg config file AND copying and pasting stuff for it in a terminal etc. tis happened due to e new udev system used by fc3...

btw, are those nvidia RPMs and DEBs the same as e official "nvidia*.run" ones, or have they been modified??

if u dont mind an older kernel etc., fc1 rocks.

2. kppp MUST be run as root... so then, how in e world do my other users activate a dial-up internet connection??

3. apt-get packages are limited to freshrpms.net, dag wieers, livna etc. and e livna camps seem to hv be reorganised...

4. on the good side, it is pretty fast since it is GNOME, and most of e daily software u need are available in RPM format.

now, pls know tat i still love fc for wat it is - a free, community based distro, and will definitely check it out again when fc4 comes out, but it's just tat as my fc problems INCREASE after every new version, it made me drop it all.



wat abt MEPIS?

it is the only one of all e 3 here tat JUST WORKS.

no problem watching dvds, setting up my nvidia card (it DID hv a problem initially, but it was solved by running nvidia-glx), running banking websites which need java etc.

only thing was tat it is a bit bloated, and takes quite a bit of time to load up... no GUI config tools to stop those bootup services!!

i am tempted to go back to MEPIS now, after u read abt my problems with ubuntu below...



ubuntu hoary

VERY beautiful desktop, and very fast!! and it's the only distro to detect and setup a working desktop for me with my nvidia fx 5700 card... sure, no 3d, but at least i hv an interface, not a blank screen (fc3)/black console (mepis).

love the idea of sudo, coz tat means tat my users will never be able to break anything on their own...

HUGE and very updated repositories... i now hv kde 3.4, openoffice 2.0 beta etc. running on my system!!

and of course, a great & helpful community...

BUT ~~ practically everything i installed from e universe repositories and some other programs do NOT appear in the menu! i hv america's army, torc, gltron etc. but nothing. absolutely nothing on my GNOME menu, neither my kde menu, and tis is making me go nuts! (and to think tat they are installed from ubuntu repositories... at least with MEPIS, debian stuff will appear on e menus, even if they are broken...)

p/s. ubuntu has NO mplayer...


so there, my personal preference... ubuntu (still trying to get the installations to work!) vs. MEPIS (close tie), then fc3.



best regards,


rykel
singapore

for those of you who have tried mepis but dont like the forum at mepis.org for reasons of posts not being answered, i am a member of www.mepislovers.org and have been since last november and there are not many posts there that go unanswerred in fact most posts are answered within the hour. there are usually at least 12 members on the forum at any given time, also on the main page is the xchat address as follows where further help can be sought


There are some irc channels that can be of help to Mepis users. If you wish to join any of the channels to see if you can get help from other users, then use one of the irc clients available in Linux, xchat is a favorite and it can be found in kpackage, kopete comes with Mepis and can be used for irc too.

Open the client and go to the irc.freenode.net server, then type /join and follow with one of the following channels:

#mepislovers - go here for help with Mepis
#mepis - the original Mepis channel
#mepis-security - go here for help and advice about Mepis security
#mepis-es - for the spanish speaking Mepis users
#mepis-fr - for the french speaking Mepis users
#mepis-it - for the italian speaking Mepis users
#mepislovers-real - go here just to chat

hope this helps anyone who has felt let down

Thanks man, I agree with you. On Warty still but cant wait till the Hoary stable release. I love Ubuntu, tried FC3 hmmm... I dunno not my cup of tea.

tried ubuntu, loved fedora
 

I tried ubuntu out, I was impressed at the ease of using and its ability to just work, I still prefer fedora however. I think its because I love to get down into it I guess I sorta feel a sense of accomplishment at the end. Plus once I am done it is set up exactly how I want it. I mean just this past weekend I spent most of my time getting FC4 test1 running on my iBook, but now it runs beautifully and it is probably the most up to date version of linux available (it may be a bit buggy but I haven't had any issues at all past install and after the initial update) and it comes with gnome 2.10, xorg 6.8.2, kernel 2.6.11, and openoffice 2.0 beta all as part of the package, it runs VERY smoothly and it also offers alot of selection as far as what you install with the OS (you can do an extremely small install up to a 6-something GB install).

I think it's up to you to try all these distro's out and see which is the best for you. We all have our own opinions based on experience and what our ideal system should/can't do.

On another note, I can't see how hardware is an issue with FC3. I have the same nVidia card as you and I haven't had any problems installing it. If you want a very informative how-to on configuring FC3 to do almost anything a "n00b" would require but wouldn't know how, then go to this webpage http://stanton-finley.net/fedora_cor...ion_notes.html .

I hope this helps.

Michael.