Xubuntu, Ubuntu, or openSUSE?

**Saturn** · January 05, 2011, 10:51 PM

I'm trying to decide which Linux distro I should dual-boot on my laptop. As of late, I've been doing a minimal amount of gaming so I'd like to move over to a Linux platform as my primary OS. I think I like the looks of Ubuntu, Xubuntu, and openSUSE. I know the only difference between Ubuntu and Xubuntu is use of GNOME or XFCE, but I wanted to know which is better.

My HP Pavilion dv7:
CPU
AMD Phenom II N830
RAM
4.0GB
Graphics
Monitor @ 1600x900
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

Obviously not an underpowered notebook so I know running just about any distro shouldn't be a problem. What do you guys recommend?

**Dewy** · January 06, 2011, 01:11 AM

You can't go wrong with Ubuntu, I have been thinking about trying OpenSUSE so if you do decide to use it tell me how it goes.

**Freddie** · January 07, 2011, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by Dewy

You can't go wrong with Ubuntu, I have been thinking about trying OpenSUSE so if you do decide to use it tell me how it goes.

By all means give Ubuntu a try but don't try and do anything beyond what it installs from installation like installing the correct and most up to date video drivers.

Despite its short comings you will grow to like Ubuntu although after using Windows 7 I can't help but feel that Microsofts latest product makes Ubuntu look a bit dated (in all aspects).

**Capt. Fozdike** · January 06, 2011, 01:13 AM

Ubuntu is probably the best of the Linux KERNELs so I'd go with that personally.

**Dewy** · January 06, 2011, 02:09 AM

Originally Posted by Capt. Fozdike

Ubuntu is probably the best of the Linux KERNELs so I'd go with that personally.

Don't all modern Linux distros use the same kernel?

**Capt. Fozdike** · January 06, 2011, 02:46 AM

Originally Posted by Dewy

Don't all modern Linux distros use the same kernel?

Some have some differences I think. But yes, they are all pretty much the same.

**karamazovmm** · January 06, 2011, 10:19 AM

depends some do run faster on the kernel updates, I like ubuntu and fedora. opensuse gave me a lot of headaches when I tried to install on my previous lappie, but off course all linux distros give a lot of headaches when going for the laptops, wireless and sound are always the most notable problems, sometimes gpus AMD is great in that sense, since their drivers for linux at least work, intel is good as well, but nvidia.... (I know someone will bash me for saying this)

**Saturn** · January 06, 2011, 10:45 AM

I've also been looking at Arch. I like the idea and I'm not afraid of a command line. I'm a noob though, so I don't know if it's the best idea, but I really like the idea of having nothing more than I want or need.

EDIT: I really like the look of Arch because it will allow to understand how Linux works much faster than a standard distro. The only thing I'm worried about is hardware support.

**Simetrical** · January 06, 2011, 03:06 PM

They're all going to be pretty similar, especially Ubuntu and Xubuntu. I'd recommend starting with Ubuntu if you're new to Linux, just since it's the most mainstream, so when you run into problems you'll be as likely as possible to just be able to copy-paste people's advice verbatim.

Originally Posted by Dewy

Don't all modern Linux distros use the same kernel?

All Linux distros use a Linux kernel by definition, or else they aren't Linux. They do run different versions, though, with some being much more up-to-date than others. (In general, you have a tradeoff in distro selection between "up-to-date" and "well-tested": that's the biggest consideration to make when picking a distro.) Also, every distro carries its own extensive set of patches which aren't in the mainline kernel, although they tend to steal the most useful ones from one another. And they have different default configurations, e.g., Ubuntu and SUSE-based using AppArmor by default, Fedora-based using SELinux by default. But it's all basically the same, yeah.

Originally Posted by Mr MM

depends some do run faster on the kernel updates, I like ubuntu and fedora. opensuse gave me a lot of headaches when I tried to install on my previous lappie, but off course all linux distros give a lot of headaches when going for the laptops, wireless and sound are always the most notable problems

This isn't such a big problem recently, from what I've heard. I haven't had sound playback problems on any machine I've tried for a couple of years now, and wireless works without a hitch on my laptop these days too. But it does depend on your hardware, certainly.

Originally Posted by Mr MM

sometimes gpus AMD is great in that sense, since their drivers for linux at least work, intel is good as well, but nvidia.... (I know someone will bash me for saying this)

NVIDIA is the only real choice on Linux if you want decent framerates, like for games, or so I've heard (could be outdated). If you aren't doing gaming or anything, then just use the default open-source drivers, and they should be comparably good across the board. The current open-source driver for NVIDIA, nouveau, is very new and rapidly improving, but it's worked fine for me. But I'd be curious to hear what your experiences were.

Originally Posted by Saturn

I've also been looking at Arch. I like the idea and I'm not afraid of a command line. I'm a noob though, so I don't know if it's the best idea, but I really like the idea of having nothing more than I want or need.

EDIT: I really like the look of Arch because it will allow to understand how Linux works much faster than a standard distro. The only thing I'm worried about is hardware support.

Hardware support is mostly based on the kernel, and some low-level userspace pieces like udev rules, which should be about the same across distros. Formerly distros would package different sets of non-mainline drivers, but the staging tree was introduced a couple of years ago to lessen that problem.

I've found you get to understand Linux by figuring out how to fix things when they break. This works fine on Ubuntu, although it tends to break less often now than when I started using it. You can use the command line on any distro equally well (one of the best parts of Linux), but it's nice to have an easy-to-use and relatively reliable GUI to fall back on when you just want to get something done. So overall, I'd still personally recommend Ubuntu, but YMMV.

**karamazovmm** · January 06, 2011, 04:02 PM

Sim, last time I had problems you helped me on the wireless and on the sound issues, although i couldnt get my speakers to work, at least the spdif out was working. there was another time when i was using my old lenovo, and I couldnt get the wireless to work, but the sound was ok. The problem with laptops is always the drivers since they dont have such a wide demand as dektop parts, the drivers are more or less specific from each model, and now that there are some laptops that arent using realtek hardware its becoming more difficult to offer the wide range that is needed, or so I heard and think.

The Nvidia drivers last I remember there was a big rucus, and everybody was saying to go for AMD, since I do have a AMD card it was fairly easy, just go to their site and grab it, ubuntu had one fairly ready when I installed, and even offered me to download a more recent, I actually like the automation that is being offered, but the problem is that without that the user end up writing lines of codes that most dont even comprehend (including myself), and the most demanding games that i played while using Ubuntu and SUSE were the old lucas arts titles, monkey island... So I cant vouch if it works for any demanding 3d apps.

**Saturn** · January 07, 2011, 12:23 AM

I'm using Ubuntu right now. Can I get Opera instead of Firefox? I don't see it in the software center.

**Simetrical** · January 07, 2011, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by Mr MM

Sim, last time I had problems you helped me on the wireless and on the sound issues, although i couldnt get my speakers to work, at least the spdif out was working. there was another time when i was using my old lenovo, and I couldnt get the wireless to work, but the sound was ok. The problem with laptops is always the drivers since they dont have such a wide demand as dektop parts, the drivers are more or less specific from each model, and now that there are some laptops that arent using realtek hardware its becoming more difficult to offer the wide range that is needed, or so I heard and think.

When was this again? Things improve a lot year by year. Things should be noticeably better now than even in 2009. (Although no question, there are always some hardware support issues.)

Originally Posted by Mr MM

The Nvidia drivers last I remember there was a big rucus, and everybody was saying to go for AMD, since I do have a AMD card it was fairly easy, just go to their site and grab it, ubuntu had one fairly ready when I installed, and even offered me to download a more recent, I actually like the automation that is being offered, but the problem is that without that the user end up writing lines of codes that most dont even comprehend (including myself), and the most demanding games that i played while using Ubuntu and SUSE were the old lucas arts titles, monkey island... So I cant vouch if it works for any demanding 3d apps.

At least Ubuntu will automatically download and install proprietary drivers for both AMD and NVIDIA. If you try to download the driver yourself from the vendor's website, there's your mistake.

Originally Posted by Saturn

I'm using Ubuntu right now. Can I get Opera instead of Firefox? I don't see it in the software center.

The Software Center mostly only contains open-source software (plus some exceptions). Opera happens to be reasonably well-designed to work with Linux, so you can safely download it from the Opera website. Chrome is also safe to download, and it also auto-updates on Linux with your other software (Opera seems not to). In general, though, you're right to be wary of installing anything other than from the official distribution repositories.

**karamazovmm** · January 07, 2011, 11:27 AM

Nvidia drivers it was 1 year ago, the wireless issue with suse was 4 years, the issue with ubuntu was 1 year.

And as I said I like the automation much better, I was delighted with the software center, one of the best implementations of ''this works'' programs, and the drivers and control center (cant remember the name, I have to install ubuntu again for the uni) were flawless, the thing was that even with that due to it being a laptop, more probably than anything, the drivers for sound didnt work at all. but it is a long time since that, I have the 10.10 distro now, will see how it goes.

**Simetrical** · January 07, 2011, 02:53 PM

You can install things beyond the default, just don't do it from the vendor's website unless you're really sure you know they write decent Linux versions. A lot of software is written properly for Windows and then a half-baked Linux version that will mess up your computer is dropped out the door without testing. Your distributors will clean it up and make sure it works properly and installs nicely; let them do that and don't mess with it yourself.

Some software, like Chrome and Opera, does have nice Linux versions, and it's safe to install it from their website. In that case they'll usually provide a .deb or RPM, which is sort of like an MSI or EXE installer on Windows. Except they skip some of the pointless stuff that's common on Windows installer (like an initial "Click Next to continue" or asking you where you want to install it).

**karamazovmm** · January 07, 2011, 05:16 PM

oh boy using the terminal is harder than I remember, at least I have the speakers working, too bad that the subwoofer dont.

**Saturn** · January 07, 2011, 10:37 PM

I had a rough start installing, but everything appears to be working normally. My Verizon aircard even works on it. It feels nice, but I can't decide which web browser to use. I probably made the partition bigger than I needed to, but I like it so far. I haven't started Windows in 24 hours from install. The only thing I haven't been able to figure out is how to get the fingerprint reader on my laptop working and I kind of miss the Beats audio that I had on Windows.

EDIT: Yeah, I really miss Beats audio, which I cannot get without Windows. Windows seems to boot a little faster for me than Ubuntu. I'm torn, but I'll keep playing with it. How hard is an uninstall?

**Dewy** · January 09, 2011, 03:43 AM

Originally Posted by Saturn

I had a rough start installing, but everything appears to be working normally. My Verizon aircard even works on it. It feels nice, but I can't decide which web browser to use. I probably made the partition bigger than I needed to, but I like it so far. I haven't started Windows in 24 hours from install. The only thing I haven't been able to figure out is how to get the fingerprint reader on my laptop working and I kind of miss the Beats audio that I had on Windows.

EDIT: Yeah, I really miss Beats audio, which I cannot get without Windows. Windows seems to boot a little faster for me than Ubuntu. I'm torn, but I'll keep playing with it. How hard is an uninstall?

That's odd, Windows 7 takes a few minutes (around 5 before it starts working as fast as it should) before I can even do anything compared to 30 seconds with Ubuntu.

**Elrond** · January 09, 2011, 06:38 PM

Without a doubt I would advise Ubuntu. xubuntu is essentially a slimmed down version of Ubuntu and I would only recommend it if your computers too slow to run Ubuntu. My computer runs Ubuntu very comfortably and it sounds much less powerful than yours.

Ubuntu and Xubuntu have Ubuntu software center meaning that installing the vast majority of software takes a couple of clicks. Ubuntu is designed to appeal to people who are new to linux and I found it much easier to use compared with my (limited) experience of Fedora and Suse.

**karamazovmm** · January 08, 2011, 03:53 PM

you got the new dv7 or dv6? as far as I recall there is no fingerprint reader in the envy and those were the only ones that had beats audio

**Simetrical** · January 08, 2011, 05:28 PM

Specialized hardware like fingerprint readers is more likely to not work on Linux, unfortunately. It looks like this one is indeed not yet supported.

What's "Beats audio"?

To uninstall, you'd need to repartition (deleting the Ubuntu partition and expanding the Windows one into the space), and then have Windows rewrite the MBR. This is doable, but not as simple as it could be, and I've heard reports of people having problems (and once had a problem myself). I guess they don't have much incentive to optimize uninstallation.