Hi there,

I've contacted SuSE Ltd in the U.K. to ask them some questions, got a reply today saying that they'll need another day or so to check, since they're checking whether my hardware will work with SuSE with no/few problems. Pretty pleased they're checking, or at least they say they are.

Now my main questions here is - I've seen a lot of posts about Mandrake and SuSE, and I cannot really make up my mind over which; I was at first thinking of getting Mandrake but after reading reviews and other articles and so on, am thinking maybe SuSE will be better.

SuSE will cost me more as I'll be getting the Professional version - about £80 I think while Mandrake will cost about €80 since I'll be getting the PowerPack edition. Money isn't an issue at all though, this will be my first jump into Linux so I'm willing to pay the extra bit this time to get a boxed edition with manual and support from the company.
My main decision is now, whether to get SuSE or Mandrake.

I've a few questions regarding the two below:

- Which has better hardware detection?
- Which is easier for a newbie to use? (Easier to install programs, easier to work with, easier to get running)
- Which is more "stable"? (I've read Mandrake 9.x can be somewhat unstable, is this true?)
- What are the real differences between Mandrake 9.2 PowerPack Edition and SuSE Professional 9.0? (eg: which comes with more programs pre-installed, this has this while that does not but has that, etc. etc.)


I don't want to go for something like Lindows or Lycoris or Xandros, I was to go for something like SuSE or Mandrake - however I don't feel that up to it yet to go for something like Debian or Slackware or Gentoo, I however hope to in the future use something like Slackware, Gentoo or Debian - although not now.

I'm really looking for the answers to my above questions, and especially the differences between the two. I know there are lots here who use SuSE and lots who use Mandrake, however unfortunately it's extremely hard to find a good unbiased review or recommendation.
At the moment, I'm simply looking for something to get me on my feet and help me learn Linux so I can eventually use Gentoo or Slackware.


(Also, on a sidenote, does anyone know any good books to help someone learn Linux? I know some brilliant book series' such as "Black Book" and "A Beginners Guide" however I failed to find those for Linux.)


Thanks all for the help, and I cannot wait until I start using Linux and get away from Windows.

- Which has better hardware detection?

I'd say they are equally as good at this. Both have hardware databases on their websites. Pump yours in and see which supports your hardware out of the box

- Which is easier for a newbie to use? (Easier to install programs, easier to work with, easier to get running)

Both pretty much equal here as well. Mandrake might have the edge on program installs via its tools for newb

- Which is more "stable"? (I've read Mandrake 9.x can be somewhat unstable, is this true?)

SuSE 8.2 is very stable on my machine

- What are the real differences between Mandrake 9.2 PowerPack Edition and SuSE Professional 9.0? (eg: which comes with more programs pre-installed, this has this while that does not but has that, etc. etc.)

I'd say again they're equal here. Both come with more than enough with default install and installing additional progs is a piece of cake



To help you decide:

http://www.distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=20451

Awesome Linux reading:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...475422-0445443
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...475422-0445443

indeed, just a little thing about configuration and stability...

*Mandrake is extremely easy to configure, I think it is slightly easier to change a config then
SUSE.
*Mandrake 9.2 isn't extremey stable, but does the trick. I prefer using Mandrake 9.1,
because it is more robust. Still, where do you draw the line?

Personnaly I think if you are noob and you want to learn linux, mandrake is your thing, you can't miss. I tried some other distro's before mandrake (e.g. Debian ) and I couldn't manage to configure them properly, but after working with mandrake for somewhat less then a year, I felt ready to try more and tried Slackware... it is a beauty!
I am giving debian another try as well, but I have to say I like the fact that Slack is so clean.

Good Luck with your quest for the noobiest Distro

Thank you for both of your replies. Much appreciated, and lots of helpful information.

Just a quick update on SuSE. They replied, and said everything will work however they did list four items which they either were not sure about or knew wouldn't work in the current release or knew would work if I installed some other drivers and so on to get to work - was very pleased about this, replied very quickly and now I know what will and what won't work with SuSE. They said they may be a problem with my SATA hard drive as the current Kernel in SuSE doesn't have much support for it, however in the next SuSE version the support for SATA will be a lot better.
I'm also going to contact Mandrake and ask the same questions, and see what they say about it - I'm guessing though that they'll answer with the same responses since SuSE simply stated the things I may have problems with were the things I was a bit worried about - however they did supply me with links and documents to get around the problems I may face which I thought was very nice as well.



<< I'd say they are equally as good at this. Both have hardware databases on their websites. Pump yours in and see which supports your hardware out of the box >>

I have actually tried to check my hard ware before hand, however both places have pretty old databases unfortunately however I did get a reply from SuSE so I know that everything will work with it however I may face a few problems with my SATA hard drive.


<< Mandrake 9.2 isn't extremey stable, but does the trick. I prefer using Mandrake 9.1, because it is more robust. Still, where do you draw the line? >>

Thanks for this. Yes, I did fear that Mandrake 9.2 was not so stable - however, at least it is getting away from Windows and lots do say it's one of the easier Linux distro's to use, so it shouldn't matter really too much I guess as I don't plan to use Mandrake or even SuSE for all my years; just one or two years at most until I've learnt enough about Linux to use say Gentoo or Slackware.


<< Personnaly I think if you are noob and you want to learn linux, mandrake is your thing, you can't miss. I tried some other distro's before mandrake (e.g. Debian ) and I couldn't manage to configure them properly, but after working with mandrake for somewhat less then a year, I felt ready to try more and tried Slackware... it is a beauty! >>

Thanks for this.
Yes, I'm not planning to use Mandrake (or even SuSE if I end up going with that) for more than two years, as I'd like to end up using something like Slackware and Gentoo.... however of course I need a place to start learning.


<< Good Luck with your quest for the noobiest Distro >>

Thanks!
I hope it goes well too.

This was what I meant, in this case Mandrake is your distro,

good luck,
elluva

<< This was what I meant, in this case Mandrake is your distro, >>

Thanks for your recommendations.
So far, I'm more leaning towards Mandrake as it seems a lot better aimed at newbies & lots of people recommend it for newer people so far.
Seems so far this is the distro for me then.


Thanks all for whom have replied.

If ur affraid that certain hardware wont work then u could try knoppix to see if it will detect ur hardware or not.

mdk detects most flawlessly

Suse 9.0 runs awful on all three computers I've tried.

Mandrake 9.2 took some doing, but now it runs beautifully on my laptop.

Paul