Ubuntu vs Fedora
 

Hi, I was just wondering what were people's thoughts on the comaprision of Fedora and Ubuntu. Is Ubuntu 10.04 and Fedora 12 comparable or Fedora 13? Which distro do you think is better? I've heard that Ubuntu, with their more recent releases, have many more bugs than usual. I want to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

raazman

any thread with "vs" in the title is onto a loser... Just pick the one you prefer. In terms of target audience, Ubuntu and Fedora are aimed at entirely different user bases, so should not be compared.

Disk space is not that expensive, you could install both distros alongside and then you'll find out which distro works better for you.

There is no "vs"; Ubuntu and Fedora are two of the top Linux distributions, serving different niches.

In terms of bugginess, both Ubuntu 10.04 and Fedora 13 are unreleased beta testing versions, so you should expect them both to be buggy. Ubuntu 9.10 and Fedora 12 are the current stable releases.

That's a direct question and at least you aren't asking which you will like better, or which will be better for someone in your position.

While I haven't tried either of these latest releases, recently I haven't liked either. Hope that helped. (Note that everyone will have their own opinions and I do hope that you will be happy with your eventual choice.)

Having used both (though mainly Fedora), I'd say that the frequent claim that they are very different is exaggerated. Fedora is what home users most frequently used before Ubuntu and it has always been easy to install compared with, say, Debian. Both tend to be bleeding-edge, with the 6-month schedule, and both have had their good editions and not-so-good editions.

Support is perhaps better for Fedora, as the Ubuntu community has a higher proportion of beginners to experts, but both seem to avoid attracting the "RTFM types" one associates with certain distros.

apples VS. oranges

Install both.

Fedora is much better for what I do. Ubuntu babies me, and I've never been too fond of debs or apt-get/aptitude. I say go with Fedora

Some say .deb will be the winner!:)

Its like saying BMW vs Mercedes - which is better?

These are both top of the class distro's that serve different user bases.

You'll get those who argue for Ubuntu and those who argue for Fedora (me :D ) - but in essence both do a number of things very differently; but very well nonetheless.

For newer Linux users; who are migrating from a Windows environment; having used both, my opinion is that Ubuntu can be considered more "user friendly" so to speak.

At the end of the day it comes down to what the individual is accustomed too....for me its RPM based Linux; and Fedora/RHEL specifically; for others its debian based Linux/Ubuntu.

They are both great for me... I use to have one old laptop at home still running actively with Ubuntu. My personal laptop for work is installed with Fedora with several virtual machines including Ubuntu, running cross-platform for work related purposes.

The only thing is, Ubuntu provide longer support (w/ the LTS version) while Fedora has at least 13 months. Except if you are likely to have an upgrade every 5 or 6 months (Ubuntu/Fedora releases). For me, I would prefer a longer period before I upgrade to newer release/versions because of too much things to do and especially the backup work-around and re-installing apps.

Ubuntu - my family members can easily relates the use of it & provides work related process for me.
Fedora - i love to run all of it here with technicalities and skills.

I find that both RPM and DEB based distributions can get into trouble if one installs some packages by source, instead of by the appropriate package. Note, I say "can". It doesn't always happen. It seems to happen when more installations or upgrades are done after the package that was installed by source. It may be due to conflicting files, somewhere.

Because of that, I end up using the distribution with the packages I need. Right now that's Ubuntu because Fedora didn't have some. That could be the reverse for you.

I've also run into the fact that Fedora releases are rather short lived, compared to Ubuntu. I'll be having a look at Centos for my RPM needs in the near future.

Posting a question pitting Fedora vs. Ubuntu is only going to give you lots of opinions. There won't be a clear and emperical answer, because at the end of the day, people use one or the other because they like it.

First off, the three things absolutely required to define an operating system are, a bootloader, a kernel, and a filesystem. Each of these are the same to both Ubuntu and Fedora, which is why they are called distributions and not operating systems. In other words the real differences between the two are largely in how they are packaged and the options available to each distro. If you blindly picked up a Fedora or Ubuntu disk and installed it, you probably wouldn't miss the OS on the other disk.

Here's how I would look at the two... Fedora is the upstream to Red Hat's Enterprise Linux and CentOS, which is designed primarily for the data center to provide enterprise level stability for mission critical applications. On the other hand, Ubuntu was developed with much more of a focus toward the desktop and the home user who's less inclined to hunt around and figure out how to make things work.

So, if you're already a UNIX guy (Solaris, Irix, AIX, HP-UX), you work in a datacenter or you have aspirations of being in that world, you'll probably be more interested in Fedora or CentOS as the behavior of those distros are more like the UNIXes previously mentioned. If you prefer the sexy and polished look of MacOS, for example, or you want to use Linux without having to be as immersed in all the more technical aspects, you'll probably enjoy Ubuntu a whole lot more.

Hope it helps!

P.S. Personally, I prefer Fedora, but just because I prefer it doesn't mean you should. Remember that what makes each distro a Linux is exactly the same. :)

raazman - we need to hear from you...because you forgot to fill in the critical information required to answer your quest...."for what?" . Without knowing what the distro is going to be used for, there is no way to answer your question. If you supply the requirements or at least the purpose(home desktop, graphics editing, video editing, software development, etc ) then we can give you a more intelligent answer.

we don't need to hear back from him at all, it's a very common question, that he asked nearly a year ago. I'd suggest just letting this thread die.

jagooch,
It has been almost a year since raazman's last post. This is a dead thread and doubt we will hear from the OP again.

Too late...

Jeez, i just dont understand some of the people on this forum. (The last forum i was on, everyone was sniping at the asker too!) I'm sure that he understands that it is like comparing apples to oranges. but the point isnt to necessarily compare them, he just wants to get an answer about what the general consensus is on which of the two is more liked! Imagine if you were an alien and you came to earth and had an apple in one hand and an orange in the other. Not knowing what either is, you ask humans which is better, easier to eat, etc. some people like oranges better than apples and vice versa, but everyone can agree that alot of extra work has to go into eating an orange as opposed to an apple because you have to peel an orange. but an apple has seeds, etc. I'm pretty sure that having been in his position myself not so long ago, he is looking for these differances, he wants to know if you have to peel fedora or if you have to avoid the seeds in ubuntu, etc. Cant we just answer his question and move forward instead of criticising his asking method, or his logic, and pointing out every minute flaw in his use of netiquette?! Seriously! I just dont understand. I've never been on another forum where these petty things have been brought up in almost every thread that is posted. Just answer the Question!


Now for my answer:
I have to be honest, Im pretty sure i could open a linux distro store with all the discs ii have lying around because i went to http://distrowatch.com and pretty much downloaded everything that soundedd like it could be something i like. I recomend that (And the use of unetbootin so you dont blow thru a ton of CDs) because it gives you the chance to ecperience, in your case, both disrtos without the committment of fully installing either one. Personally, i have tried both of those and have settled on ubuntu 10.10. The UI is very easy and it comes with the ubuntu software center (So you dont have to compile *.rpms). Just my Opinion though.

-Mike Stern

Speaks for it self.
It is logically impossible to have a general consensus about something like that.

But you are right in one thing, the best way for the OP is to just try them and to see what is better to him.

By the way, I don't think that you have to compile .rpms to install software on Fedora, you just can install them with yum.

Your probably right. that could probably also be compared to apt-get / aptitude, but i just mean as far as installing software outside of the supported repositories (because its a pretty daunting task for beginners (speaking from experience) to do things like edit the repositories list and stuff.). I just like Ubuntu because it's based off of Debian so it can run .deb files, and it just opens the installation in the ubuntu software center and so it omits the command line completely. But is that better?... I dont know. I just know that when i was making the switch over to linux, I felt that the big bad *COMMAND LINE*(Insert epic music here...) was something to be avoided. I mean, coming from windows... Practical application of DOS died in windows after WIN2K so the dos prompt was just something i never really used with the exception of 'ipconfig'. So when i got into linux, staring at that black screen with a blinking Cursor was like a nightmare. Though i find myself doing things alot out of the command line nowadays.

-Mike Stern

That is exactly what I meant, there can be no consensus on likings. I for my self prefer Debian, and yes, one of the reasons for that is the excellent package management. But I don't have the Software Center or even Synaptic installed, I prefer the combination of apt-get, apt-cache and apt-file on CLI.

I haven't used Fedora for a long time, don't they have a graphical package management tool?

Not that the OP is going to see this, but there's little sense in asking on a forum when you can test the two in VirtualBox, or even two separate partitions on your hard disk.

What is your favorite desktop environment(s)? If it isn't GNOME, how do these distro's deal with "secondary" DE's?

Take a look at the package management system. Are you comfortable with it? Do you find it intuitive? Can you find most of what you need in the repositories?

Do you like to change your OS every six months to stay on top of things? Or do you stick with a certain version for longer if you're happy with it?

How are the communities behind these distro's? Are they supportive and friendly?

These are some of the larger things you need to consider while test driving any distributions you want to compare. A third party answer from an internet forum won't as much light as taking a look for yourself.

I hear what you say w.r.t. "vs" - distro's can rarely be compared. BUT, are you sure Ubuntu and Fedora are aimed at different users? What then are the different users of Ubunut and Fedora, roughly depicted? If I like Fedora, will Ubuntu not work for me?

Would like to hear your views...

Good Article
 

Here's a informative good article on the one or the other...

A few comments to correct some misunderstandings:

Comparing Ubuntu to Fedora is NOT like comparing apples to oranges. It's an apples to apples comparison, much like Granny Smith to Red Delicious to Fuji. They are called distros because they are variations of the same theme not something different altogether. Ubuntu to Windows would be more of an apples to oranges comparison, and Ubuntu to MacOS even less so because they are both UNIX-like (although MacOS is a certified UNIX).

You are incorrect in stating that .rpm packages are compiled. Binaries are compiled. Packages (.rpm or .deb) are two variations of the same thing and both can be installed from the command line or the GUI.

Even in Windows, the lowest level system management tasks are only available from the DOS window (CLI). This is also true with Ubuntu and Fedora as the paradigm for each of these OSes was ultimately borrowed from UNIX and Multics before that. You are incorrect in stating that practical application of DOS died after Win2K. The truth is that the Windows GUI was designed to handle most user oriented tasks, which was patterned after UNIX.

1st Timer
 

I'm very new at Linux but will be installing Fedora v12 this evening (burned the iso's yesterday) on an older Dell system just to learn shell scripting and taking a Perl online course. Could do the same with Ubuntu but prefer Fedora since where I work we are rolling out RHEL which gives me experience with rpms. I'm about to find out if one is better than the other for setting up my Wi-Fi, printer, and of course, does anything show up on the monitor. I have a lot to learn about Linux but one of my factors will be how simple it is to configure with my home peripherals.

Oh dear, Fedora 12 is quite dead and "end of life." Fedora 16 is the current release, available here: www.fedoraproject.org

I'd recommend CentOS if you're studying RHEL. It is almost exactly the same except it's free. :)

Or Scientific Linux... free, very close clone of RHEL... little more 'open' group than CentOS.

Fedora 17
 

I've just been trying out Fedora 17 comparing it to my usual Ubuntu 12.04.

Conclusion: Quite Similar.
There are several differences that would make Ubuntu "appear" to me more user friendly. But that is mainly visual.
The Add/Remove programs seems to fall short of the Ubuntu software centre in clarity, performance, search success and it even failed to install an rpm. Let's hope other people have more success than me. And there is an update soon.
There is also the Gnome 3 vs Unity difference these days. With each having it's own quirks to get used to. Gnome 3 has the benefit of it's direct overview of all your applications, where the Unity dash needs lot of clicks.