[svlug] Newbie Linux question

[Chris Miller]

On 2/2/07, Joe Buck <Joe.Buck at synopsys.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 02, 2007 at 11:39:03AM -0800, Paul Reiber wrote:
> > You didn't say if you'd settled on a particular version of Linux to start
> > from, so I'll put in a hearty recommendation for using Ubuntu linux.
> > I've seen it work flawlessly "from install forward" considerably more
> > often than any other distro.
>
> Ubuntu is a good choice for beginners.  My only caveat is that it lags
> on wireless support.  For wireless, you'll do better with Fedora Core 6,
> especially if you have to deal with WPA or a wireless chip type that
> was only recently added to the kernel (e.g. Broadcom).

I contest that.  My experience has been the exact opposite.  The
network support you're talking about in FC6 is facilitated by the
network-manager-gnome (and network-manager) packages.  By installing
those in Ubuntu (or KNetworkManager in Kubuntu) I've found that the
network support is just as good as in FC6 (which I used for 2 months
before I got totally upset over how dorky Gnome is and switched to
Kubuntu for love of KDE and the comparatively more efficient apt
package management system, including the smaller system footprint.)

As for kernel support, yes, Fedora does have a more up-to-date kernel.
 Ubuntu is currently at kernel 2.6.18 (or is it 17?) and Fedora was on
19 when I left.  However, that can be fixed by adding a unstable repo,
or you can take an easier path and just compile your own kernel from
sources.

> I'm sure that future Ubuntu releases will catch up, some of this is just
> a matter of timing (Fedora tries to be leading edge, so new functionality
> tends to work first in Fedora, but it also tends to be less polished).

Yes, Fedora is cutting-edge by default.  Need I stress that last
point: by default.  If you enable the proper repositories in Ubuntu,
you can be right there with Fedora as far as up-to-date -ness is
concerned.  However, that bleeding-edge stuff is aptly named: you'll
bleed on it every once in a while if you're not careful!  That's why I
prefer Ubuntu's slightly more cautious approach to dumping new stuff
into the repos that everyone uses.

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