hi, i don't have ANY previous experience with linux or unix based OS; however, i am very intrested in trying out linux (redhat or suse). several of my friends use it and they've been suggesting it to me for a long time... but i have a few questions right now

first of, i really want to know what are some of the benefits for using linux over windows for HOME user. i mainly use my pc for work, video, serfing, etc (i dun play that much games, i know linux can't support the latest games)

also, i have the following linux flavors
suse 9
suse 9 pro
red hat 9
redhat 9 pro

which one should i install? for a first time newbie

thx, help is appreciated!

my fav is suse. but try both and see which one you like.

I've tried both and I love them both.

Here's my experience:

SuSE 9 is the best KDE desktop out there and YaST is fantastic but it certainly could use some polishing up. SuSE is easy to install if you have the CD's but can be a real drag if you have to perform the FTP install, especially if your network card isn't compatible.

I wanted SuSE on my laptop but alas, it just would not work. ACPI worked somewhat and was inconsistant. I also had no success getting my FN keys to work so my screen was half-bright.

Today I installed Fedora Core 1 and...a pleasant suprise...it worked flawlessly on my laptop once I installed FnFx.

Redhat 9 is real nice but IMHO, Fedora is much better (aside from a couple of trivial bugs).

However, I can't say that one is better than the other. Redhat/Fedora setup is better, I would say, simply because Redhat supplies ISO images for download, free of charge. SuSE does not and I think most would agree - that's just not consistant with the open source philosiphy.

My final scores:

SuSE = 8/10
Redhat 9 = 7/10
Fedora Core 1 = 8.5/10

woh woh woh, easy with the terms
i've got no idea what kde, yast, fnfx are lol

but right now iam leaning towards suse, cause i heard its easier to install for newbies

I would go with suse cause Red Hat will not be supporting update for Red Hat 9 in a bit

Listen to me! If I didn't know better I'd think I knew what I was talking about. Actually, I'm pretty much a newbie myself. Though I've been tinkering w/ linux for years, I've never done much w/ it other than some small-time experimentation. It wasn't until lately that I've really dug in.

Anyhow, Redhat/Fedora could not be any easier to install. It will run you through a simple wizard and boom, you boot and you're there.

SuSE is a bit more involved but very easy as well.

YaST is SuSE's setup/configuration tool. Some people like it, some people hate it. Personally I think it's just plain OK. If you go with SuSE, YaST (yet another setup tool?) is what you'll install the OS with.

IMHO, I think it takes far too many clicks to get to what you want with SuSE, whereas the redhat install would be familiar to anyone.

I've had a lot of hardware/display issues with SuSE.

For me, SuSE was also much slower than Redhat or Fedora. Redhat is usually pretty zippy, even while using KDE, which is not their focus as a desktop.

KDE is the K Desktop Environment. Gnome is another (Gnome & KDE being the most popular, look for screenshots on google.) SuSE does KDE really well, with Gnome it stinks. KDE is generally thought to be more advanced and feature-rich whereas others would argue Gnome is quicker and simpler and KDE is bloated and overdone - it's really subjective, choose which works best for you. Of course there are others but KDE and Gnome are the most popular in most linux distributions.

Redhat generally favors Gnome but Fedora has changed my opinion on this, I'm using Fedora w/ KDE right now.

So, in conclusion, SuSE is nice but you can more easily install Redhat/Fedora, you can get the ISO's for $0, Redhat is by far more popular (in the US anyhow) and therefore you'll find a larger community to lean on for help, AAAAAND, you can achieve the exact same desktop experience no matter which distro you choose - for those folks who argue SuSE is a 'prettier' desktop distro.

Hope this helps!

-v

Fedora (think of it as Redhat 10) is a *very* open effort already building a large community. Redhat isn't dead because of them discontinuing their mainstream desktop distro, it's simply been handed over to the public (as I understand it) with the Fedora project.

Also, even if you were to run Redhat 9, you're better off installing a tool like apt + Synaptic to maintain your system rather than relying on the RHN, which I think pretty much sucked anyhow.

Look for big changes with SuSE too now that Novell owns them.

thx for the info and the term definitions people