3 Top LINUX distrOS go for different users

Three top linux dixtrOS:

• Fedora
• OpenSUSE
• Ubuntu

Studies have shown that though they may look alike they have got some important distinctions and are meant for different users. They each use the latest releases of Open-Source applications and are based on recent Linux Kernels. Each of the distrOS also includes Open-Source applications such as Open Office and Firefox.

Underneath the hood, each of the three uses the 2.6.31 Linux Kernel, but above that, their differences begin to surface. Fedora and Ubuntu, for example, use GNOME 2.28(the latest version) for their default desktop, while OpenSUSE uses KDE4.3.1

Fedora12:

Paul Frields, Red Hat’s Fedora Project Leader, described Fedora to as being “first and foremost for users interested in and capable of contributing to open source.” So if you’re a Linux power user, you’re going to love Fedora. If you’re not, this probably isn’t the distro for you.

It’s not that Fedora is hard to use. While it’s not as beginner-friendly as Ubuntu, most Linux users shouldn’t have any trouble working with Fedora even if they’re not developers. More immediately interesting to many users is Fedora’s improved support for Bluetooth wireless devices and webcams. Another change that I especially like is that Fedora’s Network Manager now supports more network choices, including IPv6. These days, when I might need to choose between Wi-Fi, mobile broadband, wired or a VPN connection, I appreciate that Fedora makes it easy for me to find and use the one I want.

Business users should be aware that Fedora is meant for cutting-edge users. That’s great if you want to press the limits of what you can do with a Linux desktop. It’s not ideal, though, if you want a solid, reliable desktop. If you want to use Fedora in a business, you’re better off with RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux). For all of its many excellent features, Fedora isn’t the best distribution for new or business users. But if you’re a user like me who already lives his computing life on Linux, it’s a great choice.

OpenSUSE  11.2:

A key difference between openSUSE and the GNOME-based Fedora and Ubuntu is that you can click your way easily through almost all administrative tasks with openSUSE’s YaST interface. In the same way, openSUSE and KDE 4.3 make it easy to find and use applications without ever leaving the desktop. This is in contrast to GNOME, which makes it easy to use and access the most common programs and settings, but if you want to access less common applications or do more with the system, you need to get your hands dirty with the shell interface and config files.

OpenSUSE and KDE have more in common with Windows’ XP interface, where almost anything you need to do can be done with a control panel somewhere. Fedora and GNOME resemble the Mac interface, where 99% of what you want to do is easy, but the remaining 1% requires expert knowledge and a visit to Mac’s BSD Unix-based shell.

OpenSUSE also makes it easy to use proprietary media codecs, such as Adobe Flash and Microsoft’s Windows Media and Silverlight. You can add these with any Linux distros, but most, including Fedora and Ubuntu, make you jump through several hoops to do it.

Ubuntu9.10:

This newest version of Ubuntu remains remarkably easy to use.This newest version of Ubuntu remains remarkably easy to use. It’s safer than Windows can ever dream of being, but makes simple to read e-mail with Evolution, browse the Web with Firefox and write documents and the like with OpenOffice.

If they need more than the basics, the Ubuntu Software Center offers the easiest way ever to find, download and install mainstream Linux software. By using a Tucows-style program, Ubuntu makes it easy to find an application. You can also use it as a business desktop. IBM, in partnership with Canonical, will be more than happy to help you set up your Ubuntu business desktop with a complete suite of business software.

In this latest version, the interface has been spruced up. The changes are all minor, but the overall effect is to give it a smoother and more consistent look. Another feature that everyone will love is free cloud backup, called Ubuntu One. This service enables people who run Ubuntu 9.04 or later to upload files to an online storage space. Ubuntu users can store up to 2GB for free, and up to 50GB for $10 per month. Besides using this as a backup, you can also use it to sync files from one Ubuntu system to another.

A more noticeable change is that the default IM client has been switched from Pidgin to Empathy. Empathy integrates better with the overall desktop, and while that functionality isn’t really used to any great purpose in this release, being able to IM someone from within the Evolution e-mail client could be quite handy.

For more information:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142148/Review_3_top_Linux_distros_go_for_different_users?taxonomyId=89&pageNumber=1

Popularity: 3% [?]

No related posts.