Fedora vs. Ubuntu

[ChrisDTC]

which should I use?

it will be my first linux install, I have an extra machine so I thought I would give it a shot

[mongoosesRawesome]

what will be it's purpose? it helps to have some idea of what you will use it for.

[ChrisDTC]

just as a general desktop

[just brew it!]

Ubuntu should be less hassle for a Linux newbie. Fedora tends to be a little bleeding edge, which means there are sometimes a few rough edges.

[king_kilr]

Ubuntu is great for someone new to Linux, apt is a god-send.

[lex-ington]

As a noob myself, I will have to say that Ubuntu will be the better choice.

Fedora 8 does not pull in the video drivers for ATi or nVidia chipsets, nor do they offer the installation for the flash player options like Ubuntu. that was the real stickler for me. I really didn't want to touch the x-org files or ANY configuration files unless I absolutely had to.

I also find the Ubuntu interface have a quicker response to user input.

I have no preference between the yum (I really like the Yum Extender) vs. synaptic / apt-.

[thecoldanddarkone]

which should I use?

it will be my first linux install, I have an extra machine so I thought I would give it a shot

Easy, ubuntu, a little harder, fedora, a really good beginning distro to understand linux, Gentoo

[Synchromesh]

Definitely Ubuntu. FC is just not nearly as stable.

My personal favorites are Kubuntu and Xubuntu - look at those.

[axeman]

There's not even a contest, Ubuntu is much easier. For one, the Fedora developers seem have a very hardline stance about non-free software. In Ubuntu, a couple clicks of the mouse to enable all the repositories, and you can install whatever you might want, not so in Fedora. On top of that, the rpm package management system is orders of magnitude slower than debian's in my experience, even if you have newer hardware. This gets to be a real pain if you want to keep the system up-to-date.

[JJCDAD]

It's funny, I keep getting this urge to install a linux distro on one of my machines just to see what all the hype is about. Then I read a thread like this. People explaining which one is best for a beginner immediately start using words like apt, rpm, and repositories which are all Greek to me. Scary.

[bitvector]

On top of that, the rpm package management system is orders of magnitude slower than debian's in my experience, even if you have newer hardware.

Although I think rpm kinda sucks for other reasons, it's not really rpm that is slow; it's yum.

[SuperSpy]

It's funny, I keep getting this urge to install a linux distro on one of my machines just to see what all the hype is about. Then I read a thread like this. People explaining which one is best for a beginner immediately start using words like apt, rpm, and repositories which are all Greek to me. Scary.

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Packaging_Tool">APT</a> is the installer/package manager for debian and Ubuntu. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPM_Package_Manager">RPM</a> is the for Red Hat and Fedora.

Package Managers are systems under linux that control what software and version is installed/available. They access large repositories of software built by the developers of the distribution. This is incredibly helpful when it comes to installing software and getting it configured for use.

For instance, on a debian/ubuntu machine, if I wanted to install the common text editor "gEdit" all I would have to do it type on the command line: "apt-get install gedit". That's it. The package manager (apt in this case) would take care of finding out where on the web the installer is located, what other software may be required as a prerequisite, where to place the software, any shortcuts/links to create (like the start menu in windows), and any configuration the program may need.

It greatly simplifies maintaining software on linux and is pretty much the backbone of any modern linux distribution.

[derFunkenstein]

It's funny, I keep getting this urge to install a linux distro on one of my machines just to see what all the hype is about. Then I read a thread like this. People explaining which one is best for a beginner immediately start using words like apt, rpm, and repositories which are all Greek to me. Scary.

I'm with you, though my time spent with OS X has been a good (albeit slow) introduction to such concepts. Nice and easy, start with DarwinPorts (renamed MacPorts) and move to Fink, which has a reasonably usable front-end called FinkCommander and no-fuss, no-muss pre-configured packages. I guess until someone has a really nice front-end for a Linux distro where you can add software repositories and install stuff from the GUI, it's going to have a hard time catching on with consumers like you and me.

[bitvector]

I guess until someone has a really nice front-end for a Linux distro where you can add software repositories and install stuff from the GUI, ...

You mean like Synaptic or Yum Extender?

[Heiwashin]

It's funny, I keep getting this urge to install a linux distro on one of my machines just to see what all the hype is about. Then I read a thread like this. People explaining which one is best for a beginner immediately start using words like apt, rpm, and repositories which are all Greek to me. Scary.

I'm with you, though my time spent with OS X has been a good (albeit slow) introduction to such concepts. Nice and easy, start with DarwinPorts (renamed MacPorts) and move to Fink, which has a reasonably usable front-end called FinkCommander and no-fuss, no-muss pre-configured packages. I guess until someone has a really nice front-end for a Linux distro where you can add software repositories and install stuff from the GUI, it's going to have a hard time catching on with consumers like you and me.

Ubuntu's had that for a while now. Sure the apt commands are nice for fixing things, but for linux newbie jump all over the "install programs" or however it's called. As long as it's in ubuntu's repositories(most useful programs are) you type the name of the program you want in the search, click it to download and install it, and then it does all the work for you. I'm wondering when ubuntu's gonna get a repositories for fah honestly, i think it would be good.

[derFunkenstein]

I guess until someone has a really nice front-end for a Linux distro where you can add software repositories and install stuff from the GUI, ...

You mean like Synaptic or Yum Extender?

Dunno, never seen either one. Is it something installed by default with most distros?

[emkubed]

It's funny, I keep getting this urge to install a linux distro on one of my machines just to see what all the hype is about. Then I read a thread like this. People explaining which one is best for a beginner immediately start using words like apt, rpm, and repositories which are all Greek to me. Scary.

You know how Windows Update patches and updates the OS? Imagine it did the same for your installed applications. Now imagine it under Linux.

[king_kilr]

It's funny, I keep getting this urge to install a linux distro on one of my machines just to see what all the hype is about. Then I read a thread like this. People explaining which one is best for a beginner immediately start using words like apt, rpm, and repositories which are all Greek to me. Scary.

You know how Windows Update patches and updates the OS? Imagine it did the same for your installed applications. Now imagine it under Linux.

Now imagine a single UI from which you can install just about every application, and handle all dependencies for you.

[bitvector]

I guess until someone has a really nice front-end for a Linux distro where you can add software repositories and install stuff from the GUI, ...

You mean like Synaptic or Yum Extender?

Dunno, never seen either one. Is it something installed by default with most distros?

Each distro has its own, but generally yes. Sometimes it's listed under some generic "Add/Remove Programs" menu item. Syntaptic is in Ubuntu under Gnome, Adept is in Ubuntu under KDE, Fedora Core used to have Pirut (or Pup) by default, Mandriva has rpmdrake, OpenSUSE has YaST, etc.

[mattsteg]

It's funny, I keep getting this urge to install a linux distro on one of my machines just to see what all the hype is about. Then I read a thread like this. People explaining which one is best for a beginner immediately start using words like apt, rpm, and repositories which are all Greek to me. Scary.

You know how Windows Update patches and updates the OS? Imagine it did the same for your installed applications. Now imagine it under Linux.

Needlessly excessive pedantry demands that I point out that imagining something "under linux" for someone unfamiliar with linux is a rather large step

[just brew it!]

Needlessly excessive pedantry demands that I point out that imagining something "under linux" for someone unfamiliar with linux is a rather large step

...and furthermore, that saying something works "like Windows Update" may not necessarily be interpreted as a glowing endorsement!

[[SDG]Mantis]

Definitely Ubuntu. FC is just not nearly as stable.

My personal favorites are Kubuntu and Xubuntu - look at those.

I don't know...I personally like Gnome. I've been using Linux for a long time (RedHat 3.03). I transitioned to Fedora after that.

To be quite honest, my main system uses Fedora 7 at the moment. I haven't taken the plunge to Fedora 8. I like that Fedora is cutting edge and that I can get many of the latest programs available from repositories without needing to build them myself. I've been there and done that and I'm more in favor of the convenience of good trusted repositories.

In any case, enough of that. I've also installed Ubuntu. At present, I have 2 machines running 7.10 and chose it as the distribution to install on a friend's system for his first Linux experience. It isn't quite as "cutting" edge in some respects and the driver system is fine-tuned to the point where things just seem to work a little better and a little smoother. I have had to do less manual tweaking with Ubuntu than with Fedora.

Now some of that is probably just a feature of my particular hardware configurations. And I don't think that either choice is the wrong one. Like I said, I use Fedora 7 every day and personally prefer it just a bit to Ubuntu. But for a first time user, I probably would fall in line with the previous advice and go with Ubuntu.

There are some good installation fine tuning guides out there. The one that I like for Fedora is:
http://www.mjmwired.net/resources/mjm-fedora-f8.html

Either way, good luck. I think that you'll find either to work well for general use.

[bryanl]

It's funny, I keep getting this urge to install a linux distro on one of my machines just to see what all the hype is about. Then I read a thread like this. People explaining which one is best for a beginner immediately start using words like apt, rpm, and repositories which are all Greek to me. Scary.

This is exactly the same thing that happens to anyone who is new to PC's and visiting technical forums to research their interest.

The fact is that there is a lot of depth in personal computer technologies and you have to choose where you jump into the pool. If you jump into the deep end and then complain about the water being over your head, the only reasonable response is to throw you a rope and drag you out. If you continue to jump into the deep end, anyway, all you are doing is demonstrating you have your own problems that no one else can really help you with.

With plug and go PC's from folks like Walmart, Zonbu, Asus and others that are based on Linux; with CD runnable systems like Ubuntu and Fedora to try before you commit; -- yes there are options and that means decisions. Yes there is depth, too, but that isn't something owned by any particular system. Rather, it is inherent in the technology. What systems like Ubuntu, Vista, or the Mac do is to provide you with a shallow end of the pool but it is still up to you to decide to take advantage of that offering.

Just keep in mind that there is a vast pool with more depth than you can imagine down on the other end to explore at your own pace. Don't let the temptation of other folks talking about treasures in the depths cause you to drown finding out what they are talking about. This is true for any PC system.

With Ubuntu, you can request a free CD be sent to you. Both Ubuntu and Fedora, as well as others, now offer CD images you can download to test. You can experiment with minimal risk.

I'd also recommend Ubuntu for a first Linux experience. The only hassle I have with it, really, is all of the traffic on its support forums. There are so many people discussin' cussin' experimentin' and otherwise figuring things out that finding the answer to any particular question you may have can be a challenge, a frustrating challenge because you know it must be in there somewhere. You ask for help and you drown in all the ropes thrown, it seems. Take care. Perhaps Nike has it right: "just do it"

[BenBasson]

My advice would be to get Ubuntu, burn it and boot from it. If you don't like it or don't care enough to continue using it, turn off your computer, take the CD out and boot back into Windows. If you do want to continue using it, it can install itself while you carry on using it.

Installing things in Ubuntu is as easy as online shopping, and the process is similar: browse list -> select items -> job done.

The only complication to using Linux alongside Windows is that after installing Linux you have to use the Windows CD and the repair console to fix the master boot record. This is annoying, but thoroughly documented all over the web and pretty straightforward.

[element]

Asking what distro is better is like asking which religion is better. In other words, an endless discussion.

[AMDisDEC]

Which distro you choose all depends on how you are planning to use your PC and what native support you require.
Each distro has it's plus and minuses.

You can either observe each distro's technical forum to determine their individual strengths, or d/l and run their live CD to see how they respond on your particular system.

[zer0]

I'm a beginner myself. I went with Fedora 8 and I have no complaints. It doesn't have that feeling that everything "just works," but then again, if everything just worked on its own, there'd be nothing motivating me to learn more.

IMHO, you shouldn't base your choice on others' opinions. Ask yourself whether you want to install it solely as a curiosity, something for you to tinker with occasionally, or do you want to force yourself to gain a deeper understanding over time that simple occasional tinkering may not provide?

If you just wanna tinker from time to time and don't really ever want to get your hands dirty then go with Ubuntu, or even Mint, which I've heard some good things about recently. If you are really interested in learning how it all works then maybe go with Fedora instead. Its not necessarily any harder than Ubuntu, but occasionally things don't work and you do have to find a way to fix them or a way to do things differently, and for me thats the fun part

[notfred]

Fedora isn't really about learning how things work under the covers, there are distros like Gentoo, Slackware and Linux From Scratch.

My problem with the RedHat stuff is it seems to do a lot of things in specialised RedHat ways - e.g. "run this config tool" plus it uses RPMs and all the dependency problems that brings.

Ubuntu on the desktop and Debian on the servers is my favoured way.

[just brew it!]

Fedora isn't really about learning how things work under the covers, there are distros like Gentoo, Slackware and Linux From Scratch.

My problem with the RedHat stuff is it seems to do a lot of things in specialised RedHat ways - e.g. "run this config tool" plus it uses RPMs and all the dependency problems that brings.

Ubuntu on the desktop and Debian on the servers is my favoured way.

I'm actually about to give Ubuntu a try on the desktop. And the new guy we just hired where I work is a die-hard Debian fan, so our new development server may end up being Debian-based.

Still running a couple of Redhat/Fedora servers at home though... that's not likely to change anytime soon since I'm already familiar with it.

[lex-ington]

I'm a beginner myself. I went with Fedora 8 and I have no complaints. It doesn't have that feeling that everything "just works," but then again, if everything just worked on its own, there'd be nothing motivating me to learn more.

IMHO, you shouldn't base your choice on others' opinions. Ask yourself whether you want to install it solely as a curiosity, something for you to tinker with occasionally, or do you want to force yourself to gain a deeper understanding over time that simple occasional tinkering may not provide?

If you just wanna tinker from time to time and don't really ever want to get your hands dirty then go with Ubuntu, or even Mint, which I've heard some good things about recently. If you are really interested in learning how it all works then maybe go with Fedora instead. Its not necessarily any harder than Ubuntu, but occasionally things don't work and you do have to find a way to fix them or a way to do things differently, and for me thats the fun part

I still consider myself a beginner, but made the switch from Fedora to Ubuntu because everything should "just work". Why shouldn't it work? Linux has been in development long enough for it to "just work" by now.

The end result of your choice should be based on what you prefer, but the opinions of people who have been using multiple OS'es for some time should bear some weight on your options.