It's kinda weird that Fedora is more stable than Ubuntu

[el_koraco]

This is the first time I've stuck with Fedora for longer than two days, so I have some insight into the matter. I was kinda expecting it to crash a lot of the time, being more bleeding edge and stuff. But nothing. Yes, AMD's drivers don't work with GS, but that's not Fedora related.

Other than that, all the little things I've come to live with in Ubuntu, like refusing to boot for some unknown reason, screen glitches, CPU freakouts, none of that is going on. It's a system you can mostly forget about.

And I'm not just talking about the new stuff, ala Unity, kernel regressions and the like, but the general usage. I'm not having any problems with Gnome 3 on Fedora that I had with Gnome 2 in Maverick and Lucid.

That's just weirdly unexpected.

[coffee412]

This is the first time I've stuck with Fedora for longer than two days, so I have some insight into the matter. I was kinda expecting it to crash a lot of the time, being more bleeding edge and stuff. But nothing. Yes, AMD's drivers don't work with GS, but that's not Fedora related.

Other than that, all the little things I've come to live with in Ubuntu, like refusing to boot for some unknown reason, screen glitches, CPU freakouts, none of that is going on. It's a system you can mostly forget about.

And I'm not just talking about the new stuff, ala Unity, kernel regressions and the like, but the general usage. I'm not having any problems with Gnome 3 on Fedora that I had with Gnome 2 in Maverick and Lucid.

That's just weirdly unexpected.

I certainly am not replying to knock you. I use Fedora everyday and its been rock solid most all the time. However, I have used ubuntu since karmic and it has mostly worked out fine for me. I think it depends on your hardware to the most extent. The main offenders I usually see are video cards and memory.

Im sorry to hear that you are/did have problems with Fedora and Ubuntu but perhaps you have a bit of a hardware problem.

I run a dual core AMD with 2 gigs of memory, A Nvidia 9500gt card (sparkle!) and a couple of 250 gig hard drives. My motherboard is a biostar board that has done very well. I did install a sound card because I needed a optical out for my home theater reciever. But other than that its a pretty plain jane system.

I think buying the latest and greatest hardware is not really the best move. I always stick about a generation or so behind. Get some really good deals and most of the bugs have been worked out.

My first drive (/dev/sda) boots Fedora 14 and my other drive (/dev/sdb) boots Ubuntu 10.10 .

Of course those that see my computer kinda laugh. Its missing the covers, missing a front 3.5 drive bay cover. But it really runs nice! Antec midtower case.

I think its all in the hardware. :popcorn:

[el_koraco]

lol, no new hardware here, it's a crappy single-core AMD v140 laptop with Mobility Radeon HD4200. It's not like Ubuntu is extremely buggy, but it has some (not video card related) glitches and weird bugs that I don't find in Fedora. I expected F15, especially since it came out with the new Gnome, and since every package is newer than in Ubuntu, to be a PITA, but everything has been like clockwork. We buy balloons, we let them go.

[NightwishFan]

Fedora has an awesome design also. I love their wallpapers and the minor tweaks to the interface (such as Gnome 2 panel spacing).

Much too 'new' and short support cycles for me to use it full time though. I also find myself updating all the time on it.

[Blasphemist]

I will start with natty being quite stable for me for a while now. But, I recently put oneiric, Fedora 15, openSUSE, Kubuntu natty, Xubuntu natty and Debian on my laptop in addition to by Unity natty. All had strengths and weaknesses during install, display's, networking and printer handling did differ. Since I've had a chance to work with them, there are a few I'll kill and some I'll keep.

Fedora 15 is definitely staying. It has been rock solid. I can't really tell without more time whether I prefer gnome shell to unity yet. I like them both.

[ilovelinux33467]

Fedora has always been very stable for me. Especially Fedora 15.

[FormatSeize]

Other than that, all the little things I've come to live with in Ubuntu, like refusing to boot for some unknown reason, screen glitches, CPU freakouts, none of that is going on. It's a system you can mostly forget about.
When I first tried Fedora 15, I didn't like it, especially in comparison to the awesomeness inside of Fedora 14. I do agree that it does take a couple of days to get used to, but now I mostly love it. There are a few things that I haven't quite figured out yet, but that's likely my fault, not the fault of the OS.

It is shockingly stable, though. I have yet to have a crash or freeze.

[Bucky Ball]

Why is it kinda weird? This is all about hardware configuration. You'll find others who have experienced the opposite to you no doubt. Even in one distro, like Ubuntu, a release works perfectly 'out of the box' for some while for others its a tweaking nightmare. I see nothing weird about your predicament, myself. Enjoy what works for you (or try to figure out why it is 'weird' that these two work differently). ;)

[FormatSeize]

Why is it kinda weird? This is all about hardware configuration.
I'm not trying to argue here, nor am I trying to pretend like I'm an expert on hardware. But it's unclear to me how big of a role hardware configuration plays when it comes to getting a distro to run. Sure, I understand and have seen first hand that some things simply won't run on some older hardware, but in cases like that, it either runs or doesn't run, with no in between. On the other hand, when it comes to hardware that does support something like Fedora 15 or Unity, there are some distros that (I've read) crash shamefully every five minutes like there's no tomorrow. This seems to be happening across a wide spectrum of hardwares.

I guess what I'm getting at here is whether or not there's some desirable configuration that one should check for to not have to suffer through bad experiences with GNU/Linux?

[Simian Man]

Fedora is also a lot more stable for me. The main reason, I think, is that Fedora uses upstream packages, largely unmodified, whereas Debian and Ubuntu make major modifications to them. Because they are just packagers, and not the original upstream developers, this often leads to them unknowingly introducing bugs.

By the time the packages get into Debian Stable, the packages have most of the bugs fixed, but by that time, they are severely out of date. This leads to the Debian/Ubuntu mindset that you either have to accept buggy software or use something that is years old.

Even more importantly, when I report a bug with Fedora, I feel confident that the bug will be fixed upstream to benefit everyone. With Ubuntu, it will be fixed for just Ubuntu and maybe pushed up to Debian. Fedora also normally delays release a few weeks if things are taking longer than expected, whereas Ubuntu meets their deadline no matter what the state of their product is.

[snowpine]

Why are you surprised? :) Fedora is a well-engineered distro that is the test-bed for Red Hat.

If you want super-duper-stable then try "Fedora-1" in other words use Fedora 14 until Fedora 16 is released, then upgrade to Fedora 15 at that time, etc. This is what I do on my EEE and I've never had so much as a hiccup.

Of course somewhere in the world is someone with a different hardware configuration who had the xact opposite experience, hated Fedora but finds Ubuntu very stable on his/her hardware...

[el_koraco]

Why is it kinda weird?

It's weird because Fedora is designed as a bleeding edge distribution and a test bed for RHEL, and as a distro showcase the very latest that is brought into the Linux development. Ubuntu is, on the other hand, designed as a distribution geared towards general desktop use, has a much higher user-base, and I suppose more testers, plus it is based on the largest open source project.

I suppose Simian Man is on the money with the "vanilla" argument, although it's not like Fedora doesn't introduce changes of its own, like systemd in this release. Plus, the fact that there is no strictly fixed deadline is helpful in ironing out problems that Ubuntu faces due to its inflexible six month cycle.

[el_koraco]

If you want super-duper-stable then try "Fedora-1" in other words use Fedora 14 until Fedora 16 is released, then upgrade to Fedora 15 at that time, etc.

I don't mind bugs, and I'm not trying to bash Ubuntu, the whole thing kinda caught me by surprise.

P.S., I just downloaded KDE and tried to suspend. Kernel panic. So, everything is alright :D

[snowpine]

It's weird because Fedora is designed as a bleeding edge distribution and a test bed for RHEL, and as a distro showcase the very latest that is brought into the Linux development. Ubuntu is, on the other hand, designed as a distribution geared towards general desktop use, has a much higher user-base, and I suppose more testers, plus it is based on the largest open source project.

I think you may be projecting your own beliefs of what each distro means to you onto what the distro actually is. Nobody creates a distsro with the intention of being buggy, unstable, unreliable, etc. If you asked Fedora devs they'd probably tell you their intention is to create a stable distro for everyday use.

Now Fedora Rawhide, that's bleeding edge! :)

[el_koraco]

I think you may be projecting your own beliefs of what each distro means to you onto what the distro actually is. Nobody creates a distsro with the intention of being buggy, unstable, unreliable, etc. If you asked Fedora devs they'd probably tell you their intention is to create a stable distro for everyday use.


The first rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club.

[Bart_D]

I think it comes down to hardware, more than anything else. If your hardware isn';t compatible, then you're going to have issues.

In terms of stability though, I find it hard to believe than anything is better than Ubuntu.....certainly not Fedora. I'm using Fedora 15 now so who knows.....,my opinion may change with time.

[el_koraco]

I think it comes down to hardware, more than anything else. If your hardware isn';t compatible, then you're going to have issues.


That's true for using Linux and Windows. I fail to see how hardware plays a role in determining which of two distros that share drivers and kernel is more stable.

[nikonian]

Fedora is everything Ubuntu wants to be, but never will be, as they're too busy focusing on the wrong things, and rigidly forcing their releases out of the door, regardless of how broken and unstable they are.

I should have switched ages ago. I'm now on Fedora 16 x86_64, and Ubuntu has no hope of winning me back, unless they develop a new ethos entirely, and stop forcing their will of what is "best" on users, over what is tried, tested and working well.

[shuttleworthwannabe]

How do you guys that use Fedora "fix" the font rendering in Fedora to resemble Ubuntu's?

Else, I agree that Fedora with Gnome Shell is a bomb--I find it a tad faster than Ubuntu.

[malspa]

I think it comes down to hardware, more than anything else. If your hardware isn';t compatible, then you're going to have issues.

In terms of stability though, I find it hard to believe than anything is better than Ubuntu.....certainly not Fedora. I'm using Fedora 15 now so who knows.....,my opinion may change with time.

You might be right about the hardware thing.

I don't know about Fedora being "more stable" than Ubuntu, but after using F14 and now F15 and F16, I too have been surprised at how good this distro is, especially after all of the comments I've read about it being "bleeding edge" and "testing ground for RHEL."

[kyrealtor]

Fedora 14 and 16 were pretty good, and also have support for internal wireless on Gateway laptops. Releases with every distributions vary, sometimes depending on hardware. For me, the best overall, after trying several releases and distributions on several P3, P4, & AMD64 machines, was Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal. Besides performing error-free with all of the popular desktops, it has the advantage of letting you retain Gnome 2 (Ubuntu Classic on login menu) or trying the new Unity desktop. I still prefer Gnome 2 or LXDE myself, but you might want to test drive Unity, as that will probably become the standard on smartphones that will run both Android and Ubuntu expected in late 2012. BTW, I found Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot somewhat buggy the first week or two, but a couple recent installs went quite well. I generally agree with using one version older than the newest, but Fedora 16 appears to have been stable right at the official release. Kudos to the programers and testers!

[mips]

How do you guys that use Fedora "fix" the font rendering in Fedora to resemble Ubuntu's?


There should be Ubuntu fonts & patches available?

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Ubuntu_fonts
http://askubuntu.com/questions/94256/how-does-ubuntu-render-fonts-better-than-other-main-linux-distributions
http://thedaneshproject.com/posts/install-ubuntu-fonts-on-fedora-16/
http://blog.andreas-haerter.com/2011/07/18/tune-improve-fedora-fonts-typeface-ubuntu-like-sharp-fonts
http://cristalinux.blogspot.com/2011/08/improve-font-rendering-in-fedora-15-kde.html
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fonts
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Font_Configuration
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=94610

With all those links you should be able to get the fonts the same. I managed it in Arch but then decided I did not actually like the Ubuntu fonts. I don;t even use the Ubuntu fonts in Ubuntu :D

[nikonian]

Considering the amount of updates Ubuntu push out daily, it shows how broken it was from the outset. When 11.10 updates broke my XBMC IR remote setup, it was the reason I needed to move away from this mess of a distro. I see another Microsoft Windows in the making, paying less attention to what users need and want, and more attention to "shiny shiny". Ubuntu may release on time, but would you let a brand new car leave the factory without a steering wheel?

I'll stick to Fedora, where the OS *has* to work well, due to being the raw product later put into Red Hat, used by large corporations, instead of a distro which is only created to attempt to steer people away from Windows & Mac OS X, with the premise that "it's free and open source". How much does that reassure me? Not one iota.

[shuttleworthwannabe]

There should be Ubuntu fonts & patches available?

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Ubuntu_fonts
http://askubuntu.com/questions/94256/how-does-ubuntu-render-fonts-better-than-other-main-linux-distributions
http://thedaneshproject.com/posts/install-ubuntu-fonts-on-fedora-16/
http://blog.andreas-haerter.com/2011/07/18/tune-improve-fedora-fonts-typeface-ubuntu-like-sharp-fonts
http://cristalinux.blogspot.com/2011/08/improve-font-rendering-in-fedora-15-kde.html
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fonts
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Font_Configuration
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=94610

With all those links you should be able to get the fonts the same. I managed it in Arch but then decided I did not actually like the Ubuntu fonts. I don;t even use the Ubuntu fonts in Ubuntu :D

Thanks will try--this next time I am in Fedora.

BTW--EasyLife Project (http://easylifeproject.org/) is also a neat tweaker to have on the side for fedora. Does fonts config apparently as well.

[mips]

It's weird because Fedora is designed as a bleeding edge distribution and a test bed for RHEL, and as a distro showcase the very latest that is brought into the Linux development. Ubuntu is, on the other hand, designed as a distribution geared towards general desktop use, has a much higher user-base, and I suppose more testers, plus it is based on the largest open source project.

I suppose Simian Man is on the money with the "vanilla" argument, although it's not like Fedora doesn't introduce changes of its own, like systemd in this release. Plus, the fact that there is no strictly fixed deadline is helpful in ironing out problems that Ubuntu faces due to its inflexible six month cycle.

Ubuntu is not really that stable imho. They patch & 'fix' to the point of being unstable to make it work the way they want it with feature etc. If you stick to vanilla upstream packages in a distro then you are generally good. Even Debian Testing is pretty stable. Arch as a rolling release distro breaks on the odd occasion but it's still pretty stable if you ask me because their packages are vanilla from upstream.

[GERGE]

How do you guys that use Fedora "fix" the font rendering in Fedora to resemble Ubuntu's?

Else, I agree that Fedora with Gnome Shell is a bomb--I find it a tad faster than Ubuntu.

Check infinality. Best font rendering, ever.

http://i.imgur.com/bD81I.png
http://i.imgur.com/W3EkK.png

[dagroves]

On my older PC, I have found that Ubuntu runs better than Fedora does especially with the addition of Gnome 3 to Fedora. But I have always seen that Fedora is way more stable then Ubuntu ever has been. I have never once had a program crash on me while using Fedora. But in Ubuntu, happens a couple times a week. It really sucks when LibreOffice crashes and I have not saved my work. That is a pain!

[nikonian]

On my older PC, I have found that Ubuntu runs better than Fedora does especially with the addition of Gnome 3 to Fedora. But I have always seen that Fedora is way more stable then Ubuntu ever has been. I have never once had a program crash on me while using Fedora. But in Ubuntu, happens a couple times a week. It really sucks when LibreOffice crashes and I have not saved my work. That is a pain!

Ironic how Ubuntu's magazine is called "Full Circle", when we see Linux in Ubuntu form, going full circle, back to the notorious instability of the OS's it is intended to be "better" than, and ergo replace.

Being a blinded Ubuntu apologist only means one thing; you're a blinded Ubuntu apologist (not referring to you, by the way :))

[r-senior]

Check infinality. Best font rendering, ever.
What's the program you are using to edit LaTeX there?

[GERGE]

LaTeXila (http://projects.gnome.org/latexila/)

It is very good but you have to use beta release to have spellcheck. And collapsible sections are coming soon.

[mips]

What's the program you are using to edit LaTeX there?

Some times I wonder... :biggrin:

http://omploader.org/vY3dnMA/W3EkK.png

[squilookle]

I have found Gnome 3 on Fedora to be a nightmare. On my laptop, it goes to the fallback option... on the desktop computer, it works if the computer is connected to my television (via VGA) but hangs after displaying the desktop wallpaper but before displaying the panel if the computer is connected to my monitor: the error messages mention the nouveau but I haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet.

I have had different results in the past with old computers/versions. One of those things.

[wolfen69]

Fedora is good, and I like it, but I have found nothing to be more stable than Ubuntu for me. I never have any problems. But like I said, I do like Fedora also.