hi! firends ,


i m new here. i searched much on net but was unable to find than which linux distro is best and why. i thought to try suse as i m a begginer to linux but i found that ubuntu isin moer focous than any other. is it true? is suse stronger/better than others or not anf it is or not than why.? plz help me.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Are you comparing Ubuntu and SUSE here? Ubuntu is currently one of the most popular Linux distros, but its popularity is mostly limited to the desktop. SUSE on the hand is popular as a desktop operating system as well as a server oriented system (especially in Europe). As to which you should use, its an individual decision you have to make. Try the live versions of a few distros e.g. openSUSE, Fedora, Ubunt, Mandriva and use that you are most comfortable with or one that works well with your hardware.

Welcome to LQ!!

There is no "best" or "better" distro---you just have to use what works for you. Take a look at http://distrowatch.com for some comparisons---you will see that Ubuntu and OpenSUSE are both in the top 5 on their "hit list".

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux-Newbie and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Suse/Novell lost a lot of users when they started signing contracts and deals with Microsoft. Whether the final outcome is good or bad, I believe that hurt their user base a lot initially. Ubuntu was picking up a lot of steam around that time so they probably picked up a good portion of those former Suse users. Suse is a nicely polished distro though. And of course Ubuntu is popular, it's based off the awesome Debian distribution with it's most excellent package management system.

The recommendations above (from several moderators no less) to look at all the top distros to make your choice is the best recommendation. alternately everyone here in the forum can post their favorite distro in this thread, which really doesn't help anyone You can search this forum and find hundreds of threads like that.


If you put specifics as to what you plan to use the system for you might get some replies with a bit more meat..

openSuSE isn't covered by the deal with Microsoft. Only SuSE SLED customers.

One advantage that SuSE has over Ubuntu is that Ubuntu is limited to one desktop. There is one "distro" for Gnome, one for KDE and one for XFCE. OpenSuSE is distributed on a DVD and contains a number of desktop environments. You can select which one you want to use in the GDM menu. If you install a package in KDE, it will also be installed in Gnome's menu as well.

Mandriva is similar in this respect. When I started with Linux, I tried three distros. Mandrake, SuSE & Corel Linux. If one distro didn't handle some hardware (like usb keyboards which were new at the time) or wouldn't install, I'd try another. At the time, RH didn't like my hard drives and wouldn't install. Today I've settled on openSuSE.

Many book stores have magazines (Linux Magazine, Linux Pro Magazine, Linux+, etal.) that have CDs or DVDs featuring a different distro each month. That is one way to try different distros. Also look in the www.distrowatch.com for reviews of a large number of distros.

I was a newbie
I first tried Ubuntu and didn't like it at all
Then i installed openSuSE and LOVED IT!! I don't see how Ubuntu is better than openSuSE.. And i've learned that there are no better distros, it's just the matter of taste

go openSuSE!

Agreed.. which is why it's best to try several distros to decide which one YOU like..

[opinion]
ubuntu is more popular with the newbies.

but according to here suse is in the top 3 popular brands:
http://iso.linuxquestions.org/

probably because suse is made by novell and corperations like the novell brand. also fedora and red-hat are above ubuntu in popularity because of corperate interest.

I would assume that the Suse numbers include the free Suse versions. It would be interesting to see RH's numbers if they were posted in a similar fashion(RHEL/Centos/WhiteBox/Etc).

I agree that the best Linux is the one that suites you best. I ran Fedora for years (and liked it). When it changed (less about fixing bugs, more about just getting new stuff out) I switched over to Centos.