Alternative to Ubuntu?

[jhmiller42]

This may be the wrong place to ask this, but it looks like my laptop simply isn't going to run Ubuntu.

So, if you had to pick an alternative distro with similar strong points -- ease of use, large and active community -- which would it be? Mandrake? OpenSUSE?

[Google Spider]

I heard some good things about Open Suse and Mandriva.

This is the right place to talk
http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=147

[sheilnaik]

I use OpenSUSE at home on a really old computer that just wouldn't boot up to the Ubuntu Live CD at all (I still haven't figured out why). The computer has a terrible video card, and SUSE is working just fine.

As far as community support, there is a SUSE community, but it's nothing compared to the Ubuntu community (then again, that's really an unfair comparison since the Ubuntu community is miles ahead of everything else). I'd still give it a shot though. I think it has a Live CD you can try out.

[Helios1276]

Heard Linux Mint is a nice intro..think I might put it on my own comp alongside xp and Ubuntu...

[Oldsoldier2003]

I've personally tried opensuse and didnt like it, but that was about a year ago so things may have changed. I'm currently in the process of evaluating Mandriva for my use and i'm eagerly awaiting fedora 9's release to give it a shot as well. Personally I'm found of debian derivatives, so I would say a good alternative is Debian Etch or if you need something light and fast Puppy Linux.

[steveneddy]

For a new Linux user and ease of installation, you might try PC Linux OS.

My daughter installed it herself and maintains it herself.

It's real pretty and everything worked out of the box.

[Dark Aspect]

This may be the wrong place to ask this, but it looks like my laptop simply isn't going to run Ubuntu.

So, if you had to pick an alternative distro with similar strong points -- ease of use, large and active community -- which would it be? Mandrake? OpenSUSE?

If you laptop won't run Ubuntu you could try a Xubuntu.Its kind of a light weight Ubuntu thats good for older computers that lack CPU power and memory.Fedora is so much like Ubuntu that if you laptop doesn't run Ubuntu I doubt it would run fedora.

http://www.xubuntu.org/

[linuxlizard]

+1 for pclinuxos

setup is very easy most of the time- easier than ubuntu most of the time as it auto-configures and multimedia works out of the box. Lighter on system resources and faster too (I think, hardy is pretty fast compared to gutsy).

You didn't give specs on your laptop, but if pclinuxos is too heavy, pcfluxboxos will work great.

[Pijits_1]

I'd try something like Fedora, its a different based Os but it has a lot of similarities. You'll have to keep in mind that its a Red Hat based OS so Debian programs won't work (unless they have a rpm version) but theres lots of alternatives. Bit bulky but powerful.

[Diabolis]

I have used a little bit Open Suse at school and I don't like it very much. It uses Gnome just as Ubuntu, but is somewhat modified. I know is just a matter of getting used to it. I've been using Mandriva for the last couple of days and for me is the OS I would pick after Ubuntu. I think it actually installed faster than Ubuntu, that is strange because Mandriva comes with KDE which is a heavier desktop environment than Gnome. At least it used to be, not sure now that gnome comes with compiz already.