Now I remember why Linux can be a bit frustrating at times. I tried using Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Opensuse today. Ubuntu and Kubuntu work well right from the get go. Opensuse had a few problems.

Ubuntu

Pros

1. Easy install, only 1 CD
2. Autodetected everything
3. Almost everything worked straight out of the box
4. Active support forums

Cons

1. Limited amount of packages on the CD
2. Some packages dated
3. Defaults to Gnome only

Ubuntu is a relatively new distro based on Debian and financed by some rich dude from Africa. The objective of Ubuntu is to provide a simple, free, and easy-to-use operating system for all the peoples of the world. I installed the i386 version 5.10 from a CD. Installation was very easy and took less than 15 minutes. Everything was automagically detected and installed. There was no package selection although you can do a base “server” install at boot time. Ubuntu does not create a root account. Instead it creates an “admin” account which is also the default user account. It also defaults to the Gnome desktop although KDE can be installed after the initial system installation. It comes with a limited selection of packages, with usually just one tool to do a job. The default web browser is Firefox 1.0.7. I was a bit disappointed that Firefox 1.5 was not included and that there are currently no 1.5 packages available. Firefox can still be downloaded from the Mozilla website and installed manually. The default mail client was Evolution, but since I use Gmail, I did not evaluate it. Package management seemed to be fairly easy although I am faily ignorant of the process. The default package manager seemed to work well and had a simple, intuitive interface. A nifty auto-update feature is also included in the OS.

Kubuntu

Pros

1. Easy install, only 1 CD
2. Autodetected everything
3. Most things worked straight out of the box

Cons

1. Support forums not as helpful
2. Some packages dated
3. Defaults to KDE only
4. Configuration not too easy once installed
5. Small selection of packages

Kubuntu is an offshoot of Ubuntu that installs the KDE desktop by default. It is not a fork of Ubuntu and is an actively developed part of the project. Gnome can be installed if needed after the initial system installation. Although Kubuntu is part of the Ubuntu project, it is easy to tell that it is not as well integrated as the original and has a smaller user base. Most of the packages are the same as in Ubuntu. Konquerer is installed as the default web browser and Firefox is not included. Version 1.0.7 can be installed via the package manager, or 1.5 can be manually installed. Kontact was the default email client, but once again I did not evaluate it because I use Gmail. The package manager was somewhat disappointing. To be honest the interface was so confusing, I never figured out how to use it. More work is needed on this from in Kubuntu.

Opensuse

Pros

1. Large selection of packages on 5 CDs
2. Defaults to WM of choice
3. Good autodetection

Cons

1. Locked up during install
2. Packages spread out across 5 CDs at random
3. Did not detect sound card
4. Did not create non-root user during install

Opensuse is the free community project for Suse Linux sponsered by Novell. Opensuse is a desktop Linux system, but can be configured to do almost anything. The heart of Opensuse is Novell’s YaST administration program. I installed the amd64 version 10.0 from 5 CDs. A net install is also available, but I could not get it to work. I selected all of the defaults including all of the default packages. I was disappointed to see that all 5 discs were necessary in the default install although most of the packages came off the first two discs. The install also hung while attempting to get updates. I had to shell out and kill the install. Luckily it was nearly complete and produced a bootable system, but no users were created and my sound card was not configured or even detected. When I rebooted the installation did not complete. I logged in as root and created a user account. On a happy note, my Windows partitions were auto-mounted at boot, although my Grub install was corrupted and would not boot to Windows. Once logged in as a user, the system seemed to work fairly well. Both Konquerer and Firefox were installed, although Firefox was only version 1.0.6. I also noticed some connectivity issues in Konquerer although I could not determine their cause. Email was not evaluated. Package management was handle by YaST. It seemed to work well and with a little learning effort might be easy to use. Auto-update is also available although it is turned off by default and I could not determine if it really worked.

Conclusion

It was clear to me that all three distros I evaluated worked and could be made to function for anyone willing to learn. Ubuntu seemed to be the most polished of the systems, and Opensuse seemed to be the most robust. Kubuntu seemed to need the most work from a usability standpoint although it was just as stable as Ubuntu. I think I will reinstall Ubuntu and evaluate it on a more detailed level. It seems to be the one that could most likely be used as a primary OS.