Impressions so far with FC 8 and Kubuntu Gutsy
Brian Chadwick
brianchad at westnet.com.au
Fri Feb 8 01:58:51 UTC 2008
Terry - Fedora Core wrote:
> No this is not to rant against Fedora Core and praise Kubuntu. I like
> both for different reasons and dislike both for different reasons.
>
> Overall I like both far more than I dislike either. The dislikes are
> really, really small in comparison to other OSs.
>
> Both have a lot to offer anybody that takes the time to learn a little
> and use them.
>
> I tried Fedora Core and Kubuntu simply because the place where I got
> the new computer preferred Kubuntu (but would not install) and the
> place where I purchased the old computer used to use Fedora Core only
> and now installs either Fedora Core or Kubuntu, the customer's decision.
>
> What I really, really, really like about Fedora Core:
>
> 1. Everything is there - I first downloaded a Live CD (both Kubuntu
> Gutsy and Fedora Core 8). Tried both. Fedora Core also has an
> entire distribution on a DVD. Didn't even try to download the
> multi-GB DVD so ordered from OSDisks (install and source DVDs).
> With Kubuntu, no DVD is available that I could find, just the
> Live CD. So while waiting for the Fedora DVD I installed Kubuntu
> from the Live CD and spent about 2 weeks working with it and
> getting it to the point hat I had downloaded nearly everything I
> thought I needed.
>
> With Fedora, that 2 to 3 week period was collapsed to a few days
> installing from the DVD. Also, I am pretty sure from past
> experience with FC 5, that very little will be needed to be
> downloaded to supplement what I now have. That saves me hours
> and days and a lot of frustration when I get a message that such
> and such file is missing. What file? Where is it? What package
> is it in? That last question can be a killer. Without a detailed
> list of files in all packages, finding a specific file can be
> arduous and time consuming. I am pretty sure that I have
> circumvented that with the Fedora Core method and that I like a
> LOT.
>
> 2. I can have BOTH Gnome and KDE and have them both from the
> initial install (once I learned how to do that on the second
> install - if the installation instructions would just state how
> to do that :-) ). I prefer KDE for most of my work. However, I
> find that I also like some of the features of Gnome. Being able
> to use both by simply logging out and logging back in with the
> other environment is easy and quick. A method of switching
> without even logging out would be of tremendous value to me and
> I bet to a lot of people. Not too sure if (K)Ubuntu can be made
> to do the same thing. Every time I try Gnome and KDE, KDE just
> feels like a more mature, more polished product. The little
> things make the big difference - like being able to use the
> middle and right mouse buttons to increase window size
> vertically or horizontally separately. Also, when moving a
> window to the side, under KDE it kind of stops and clicks into
> the side of the desktop. I don't have to finagle with getting it
> there. Little things like that make a big difference in
> usability and are really noticed at first, but fade into the
> background until you have to use Gnome (or even worse
> Windows!!). Now I really don't hate Gnome, just that I prefer
> KDE most of the time, both are really great desktop environments.
>
> 3. Other than the way that SELinux seems to have messed up things
> until I set it to "permissive mode", almost everything in Fedora
> Core 8 worked after the install (at least the second install
> :-) ). There weren't any of those little gotcha's that such and
> such isn't installed for that to work, install such and such a
> package - see point 1 above. OK, I had some problems, but
> nothing that hasn't worked out with a little intelligence.
>
> 4. It's a Linux distro - that counts for LOT.
>
>
> What I don't like about Fedora Core: (this is really in comparison to
> Kubuntu):
>
> 1. I spent a lot of money to get a really good h/w video, the
> NVidia GeForce 8600 with lots of MB of onboard cache. Under
> Kubuntu I used apt to download and install the NVidia
> proprietary 3D drivers. I was informed of this right from the
> get-go after installation and even assisted with a taskbar icon
> for the proprietary driver and informed of it's proprietary
> nature. Does the fact that it is proprietary bother me - not at
> all - I spent a lot of money on their h/w so why not use it
> fully with s/w they provide for me to do that. It is free as in
> beer (well after having bought the h/w it is :-) ) ? Under
> Fedora Core, I don't know if there is a way to do that. Ok,
> principles are great, but being pragmatic works very, very well
> also. Is this a tie-breaker between the two - certainly not.
> Just one of those little niggles like the above difference
> between KDE and Gnome.
>
> 2. The SELinux default install caused me a LOT of grief. Is there a
> way to fix the problem? I have no idea. I know essentially
> nothing about SELinux and no interest in devoting a lot of time
> in learning enough to answer the question. At this point I am
> only interested in learning whether I have to keep it
> essentially turned off in permissive mode or can change
> something to get it into enabled mode and not have lock my
> computer down to the point that I cannot use it. Do other
> distro's use SELinux or is Fedora Core the only one and how
> essential is SELinux to the operation of my computer and it's
> health and well being?? Don't know enough to answer.
>
> Other than that I really cannot think of anything else yet after 3
> days of installing and 1 partial day of use.
>
> Terry
i use my F8 box for lots of things, and SE-Linux stays quiet. what sort
of errors are you getting?
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