which is best, kubuntu or opensuse
 

hi,

i'm fairly new to linux and am trialling ubuntu and opensuse to see which one works best with my compaq presario v3000 laptop, amd turion64, nvidia card.

so was wondering what kubuntu is like as i am running opensuse 11 at the moment.

ubuntu was good but kept getting wireless problems, in that after 2-3 days it just would not connect.

does kubuntu have this kind of problem as its just ubuntu but with kde?

i like ubuntu because of the massive communtiy and programs out there, but really don't want to have to install kubuntu as i have already spent the past week installing ubuntu and opensuse to see which works best.

I'm new to linux as well. I don't know much but I can share my experience with the 2. I first tried Opensuse, when installed I had a few problems with some hardware. Opensuse wouldn't detect my monitor and when trying to configure keyboard/mouse I get sent straight to a text screen for a few seconds and back to desktop. I also had a pain trying to get my printer to even work in Opensuse. I then tried Kubuntu and everything worked right after the install. All I had to do was install my video/sound drivers and the desired programs I wanted. I had trouble understanding how to install but that was on my part not Kubuntu. So far I am loving Kubuntu and everything is working fine so far.

Personally I believe its all a question of what you want in a distro (where 'distro' here refers to either Ubuntu, Fedora OpenSuse etc etc). Ubuntu has a Debian touch so if you try Ubuntu you will very much get similar features in Kubuntu. OpenSuse is entirely different since its just that, Suse! But bottom line is they are all LINUX. Whether you install Kubuntu with KDE or Ubuntu with GNOME(which is the default i guess) i think is all a matter of preference. Personally i run Debian Etch, FC8 and FreeBSD since whatever one lacks is made up for in another.

Maybe you should post the above problem in the respective forum and also list down abit of detail cuz seriously speaking you can tell us what "wireless problems" are. Am sure its something that can be sorted out and doesnt have to be a base of picking one distro over another.

Cheers

I use both, and I prefer openSuSE, but kubuntu isn't bad, not bad at all.

Firstly the kde version of Ubuntu always feels to me a bit of a poor relation to the Gnome version. This wouldn't be so bad for me if I liked Gnome, but I don't. OTOH, SuSE feels to take kde seriously, particularly with the 'command search' feature in the menus. This wouldn't be such a problem if I liked a minimal system, but I don't.

I haven't tried OpenSuSE 11 yet (I didn't feel that kde 4.x was ready yet) and package management there is much revised, however, I would say that synaptic/.deb is the best package managment system that I have seen. In comparison, SuSE just seems a bit clunky (but 11 may be better). Functional, but clunky.

I did have the previous LTS version for a while, and it didn't really seem to me that the LTS system was adequate (the way they kept screwing up kernel installation, for example). the system just wasn't adequately stable, in the long term. The kernel issue is easily fixable, but you shouldn't have to fix it.

I don't like the lack of root under *buntu. I don't know of any explicit security problems because of this, but it just seems to complicate life as much as anything (sudo-ing all the time). And you can put this right, too, but then you'll find that you've broken lots of tutorials on how to do stuff on Ubuntu, and that's not a show-stopper either, but it doesn't help.

And while I don't particularly like the default brown-ish look and feel of the *buntus (apparently, I prefer an inhuman theme), that's easily changed, so its not a serious issue.

cheers guys.

my main wireless problems in ubuntu was its stability. it would work fine for a few days after installation, then it would just not connect, even ehn sitting next to the router.

so wondered if kubuntu has the same problems.

will post this in the ubuntu section.


the wireless stability is a major factor in choosing my distro as my university is pretty much wireless based, there are no sockets in the student accommodation.

so all my work and research is done through the wireless.

Your wireless issue could be related to your wireless card and it's drivers, not necessarily the Distro..

I've never had issues with my Wireless in Debian, but then again I don't use the Wireless very often.

dont think its my wireless card and the drivers as initially with ubuntu it all works fine.