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Linux Desktop Distro Shootout

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the slow-news-day dept.

An anonymous reader writes "InfoWeek has posted an open-source OS comparison. Linux Shootout: 7 Desktop Distros Compared pits openSUSE, Ubuntu 8.4, PCLinuxOS, Mandriva Linux One, Fedora, SimplyMEPIS, and CentOS 5.1 against each other. And the winner is ... Ubuntu. Author Serdar Yegulalp writes: 'Ubuntu 8.4 remains one of the best desktop distributions for many good reasons: it works with almost any hardware you throw at it, and has tons of features for both existing Linux users and prospective converts from Windows.' He also gave openSUSE points for ease of use on the desktop, and Mandriva kudos for ease of administration."

13 of 383 comments (clear)

  1. 8.4? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    8.04.

    1. Re:8.4? by aaronmarks · · Score: 3, Informative

      With that logic though, they shouldn't have tested Ubuntu 8.04 because they apparently tested that as well while it was still in beta.

  2. why CentOS? by trybywrench · · Score: 4, Informative

    Isn't CentOS the free version of Redhat Enterprise Linux? Why is it in a desktop linux shootout?

    --
    I came to the datacenter drunk with a fake ID, don't you want to be just like me?
    1. Re:why CentOS? by lgarner · · Score: 4, Informative

      It includes elements from all RHEL packages: RHES, RHAS and RHED.

  3. Add free version. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here

    1. Re:Add free version. by pthisis · · Score: 3, Informative

      "couldn't care less" not "could,"

      And "begs the question" doesn't mean "raises the question" or "ducks the issue". It refers to a specific form of argument which _does_, in fact, attempt to answer the question--but does so by assuming the conclusion in one of the premises. Specifically it's an argument of the form

      p implies q
      suppose p
      -> q

      Where "suppose p" really is "suppose my side of what we're arguing about is true".

      --
      rage, rage against the dying of the light
  4. Re:Ubuntu 8.04 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Feel free to file a bug: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug

  5. "Almost any hardware you throw at it" by loteck · · Score: 5, Informative

    I sincerely enjoy the Linux experience and appreciate the community, but this statement is positively absurd. Ubuntu's own help files contain extensive lists of wireless cards that have a big fat "No" listed under the "Works out of the box" column. And that's just wireless cards.

    One of the primary reasons that the average person abandons Linux is the frustration caused by these types of misleading claims. Somebody says, "Hey, virtually everything works out of the box!" and they think... wow, well, I buy my stuff at top retailers from top brands, surely then my stuff is supported.

    Unfortunately for them, their stuff may not work at all, or may work partially. Lots of gotchas for Video cards, scanners.. the list goes on and on. Nobody is well served by making statements that indicate anything except that hardware support is still a major obstacle for the adoption of Linux on the desktop.

    1. Re:"Almost any hardware you throw at it" by Necreia · · Score: 3, Informative

      The "Average User" doesn't install their OS. It comes preloaded and configured from Walmart / Dell / etc.

  6. Why Mandriva One? by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why did they opt to use Mandriva One, over Mandriva Free? Mandriva Free is a bigger download, but comes with a lot more software on the disk. It also seems more suited to an actual install, whereas Mandriva One is more of a Live CD.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  7. Re:Ubuntu 8.04 by TheLink · · Score: 4, Informative

    I heard the freezes are due to some scheduler thing they did - rather than all processes competing equally, you have some weird situation where programs that have root and user instances have problems with one starving out the other.

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  8. Re:Ubuntu 8.04 by Dystopian+Rebel · · Score: 4, Informative

    There was a decision to use the old scheduler on the Desktop version of Heron. It is causing problems. Try the Server version.

    I find that it's as wise to wait for stability in an Ubuntu release as it is with an MS Windows release. The difference is that stability comes to Ubuntu faster. (o:

    I will give Heron a month or two to settle down and then switch.

    Ubuntu does more right than any other Linux distribution ever has.

    --
    Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
  9. Re:Speeds & Feeds Perils by discogravy · · Score: 3, Informative

    as other comments have mentioned w/r/t Debian Testing, it's not a good comparison to Ubuntu; it's central idea is different, which is really what the other replies have been about. Deb Testing is about getting Debian new software and making everything new work well enough that bugs can be squashed. Ubuntu's raison d'etre is about making debian usable for everyday use without making users spend a day looking up config details for their hardware or what chipset their cards are using and what drivers go with what. Testing's cool, but testing's not for desktop users. It can be /used/ for that, but then again, you can also drive cross country on a unicycle, if you're dedicated enough.

    --
    FreeBSD for the impatient.