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View Full Version : [all variants] Ubuntu Variants vs. Fedora 9



G-Dub
September 6th, 2008, 11:43 PM
Hey everyone,

I am pretty new to linux and i am completely IN LOVE WITH IT!
I have tried Gnome, KDE, and XFCe on ubuntu (KDE 4 being my favorite).
I am curious to try other flavors of Linux after my fantastic experience with Ubuntu! Fedora 9 is the one that caught my attention. It says it uses Gnome or KDE... so what ACTUALLY makes it different?

Sorivenul
September 7th, 2008, 02:31 AM
There are many differences between Ubuntu and its variants and Fedora.

Package management is one. Ubuntu uses the Debian package management system (apt-get/aptitude/dpkg), Fedora uses the RPM system. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, which I will not go into.

Fedora, classically has used more "bleeding-edge" software, and this has caused some problems for users. The main repositories are not as large, which can be both a blessing and a curse when trying to find something to install.

Also, Fedora has a fairly heavy focus on free software - this isn't saying the software that comes with Ubuntu comes with a price, just that certain codecs and such available easily in Ubuntu aren't as easily obtained in Fedora.

The only other thing I can think of is that the Fedora forums aren't nearly as active or, IMHO, helpful as the Ubuntu forums.

That said, Linux is about choice. Experiment a little until you find something you are absolutely comfortable with. Try Fedora if you want, amongst others listed at DistroWatch (http://distrowatch.com). Good luck, cheers!

G-Dub
September 7th, 2008, 05:48 AM
thanks man! that was helpful. I am by no mean leaving the Ubuntu fold, i love it, it is my OS of choice. But i definitely want to experiment with other machines I have.

cprofitt
September 8th, 2008, 01:49 AM
Since you want to experiment let me suggest the following:

Arch Linux -- www.archlinux.org
openSuse -- www.opensuse.org
Linux Mint -- www.linuxmint.com
Debian -- www.debian.org

I have tried several but those give you a good flavor without being overly technical like a LFS or Gentoo.