OpenSUSE vs Ubuntu for small office

Cosmin · 2009-07-07 15:37:30

I might install on two computers (running windows xp now) linux. The computers are used for editing texts (Ms Office now). What would you suggest me OpenSUSE, Ubuntu or something else? It has to be a user-friendly distribution.

Peasantoid · 2009-07-07 15:48:25

OpenSUSE sucks like nobody's business. Go for Ubuntu.
Chakra might also be a good idea, since it's Arch-based. (Assuming it's mature enough.)

toad · 2009-07-07 15:49:34

Every distro is user-friendly if set up properly - so it is entirely up to you! All the user will see is the DE or window manager, not what is under the hood.

Cosmin · 2009-07-07 15:58:09

right, but with arch I have to setup a lot more, while ubuntu for example gives me a solid base

cactus · 2009-07-07 16:30:27

I try to keep an open mind. That said, there are two distributions I have never liked, and always had problems with. suse and mandrake/mandriva.
I recommend people not use either of those.

moljac024 · 2009-07-07 16:55:41

cactus wrote:

I try to keep an open mind. That said, there are two distributions I have never liked, and always had problems with. suse and mandrake/mandriva.
I recommend people not use either of those.

I can say +1 to this. I tried so badly to like both openSUSE and Mandriva.

Cosmin · 2009-07-07 17:04:29

openSUSE and Mandriva seems bloated to me, but with some nice tools

Mint would look nice ...

madalu · 2009-07-07 17:43:36

Indeed, one of the biggest puzzles about the Linux world is how
OpenSUSE has a reputation for being user-friendly.

I've found it easy to install many distros (Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu,
Arch), but every attempt to install OpenSUSE has been a complete
disaster. And don't even get me started about YaST...

IMHO, for a no-fuss install for everyday desktop use, you can't miss
with Ubuntu...

toad · 2009-07-07 17:51:43

Rather than going distro bashing (although I happen to share the same views ) I'd go for Lenny. Why?

a) It'll be supported for the next three zillion years (unlike the buntus)
b) You don't need state-of-the-art software to write a letter or an email
c) It doesn't require frequent updates like Arch
d) Documentation is good
e) Very customizable
f) Vast pool of software available
g) Very low maintenance distro

That's it. Anybody got a better idea? Sidux is a decent, low maintenance rolling relase distro and might be worth considering.

Ranguvar · 2009-07-07 19:01:00

I'd go Debian Lenny too.

Misfit138 · 2009-07-07 19:15:46

Ranguvar wrote:

I'd go Debian Lenny too.

I guess me too. Good distro, horrible, convoluted documentation.
As long as you don't need the docs, Lenny is good.

Llama · 2009-07-07 19:17:51

I'd suggest Pardus. All the more so, because of the new release coming soon: here. It's a very special distro, capable of delivering a lot of things that certain well-known distros merely promise. Notably user friendliness, stability and a reasonable edge, all at once ...

zimt · 2009-07-07 19:20:39

Take Ubuntu LTS Version. It's less work for the Admin :-)

.:B:. · 2009-07-07 19:58:55

madalu wrote:

Indeed, one of the biggest puzzles about the Linux world is how
OpenSUSE has a reputation for being user-friendly.

Back in the days it had good hardware detection. Hence the userfriendliness. Nowadays, most other distros have caught up since it's not that distro-specific anymore (especially Ubuntu applies a lot of patches for hardware that's not supported by the vanilla kernel).

i'd say Ubuntu. I don't like Novell's politics, but that's just me, and it's a poor basis to make a decision on (rationally that is - emotionally it is very sound ).

Trent · 2009-07-07 20:03:07

Depending on the potential users of said machines, Ubuntu may have another benefit. Namely, you can hand your (employee?) a CD and tell them to head home and try it out. Sure, you could do that with openSUSE theoretically as well, but I've never seen Ubuntu's match for ease of use in a live CD, or simplicity of installation for that matter. Furthermore, it's something that our hypothetical employee or his hypothetical friends and family may already know about, and something he can easily find documentation for online.

Debian will be less trouble post-install (even less so than Ubuntu LTS) and there is a strong family resemblance between the two.

Cosmin · 2009-07-08 05:13:01

The potential of the users is limited, but they will just use OpenOffice, so I guess a gnome desktop will be easy enough to lunch OpenOffice, copy from CD or USB, browse the web ...
From what I see the general opinion would be ubuntu or debian.

Well, thanks for the input.

R00KIE · 2009-07-08 10:53:19

I have tried a few distros and openSUSE was one that I didn't like so much, like it was said Ubuntu will most probably be a good choice as most people may have heard about it or already use at home. Can't say anything about debian because I have never used it too much (installed once but then my linux knowledge was not that great back then and I went back to ubuntu ... until I found Arch )

barzam · 2009-07-08 11:47:39

I can't see why Archlinux would be a worse choice than Ubuntu/Debian? Sure, the setup is a bit more time consuming but as someone said earlier: the user won't tell the difference anyway.

Dieter@be · 2009-07-08 11:59:49

if we have to restrict ourselves to these types of distro's, I'ld pick fedora.

I tried an opensuse install once and got lots of problems. Basically they try to wrap everything - including the most simple things - in fancy gui's. IIRC their yast tool has a qt,gtk and ncurses version. Really overengineered. And the worst part is that the stuff is buggy. Eg I could not change an lvm config during the setup, I had to create an entirely new one. In the disk menu of installer alone I found two big bugs.

Cosmin · 2009-07-08 12:05:38

No restrictions Tell just what you think it's the best option for somebody in an office just writing documents and with a network with some widows machines and some shared printers.

I think that fedora does not have go-openoffice and can not open docx. (maby I can intall go-openoffice ...)

If someone have real experience in providing a linux distro to some windows office workers(not so young and willing to learn) would be great to share.

Last edited by Cosmin (2009-07-08 12:09:47)

iphitus · 2009-07-08 12:10:39

I wouldn't discard Mandriva so quickly. Their more recent releases are miles ahead of their previous releases. They've put a significant effort into QA/bugs in the last two years.

That said, I'd probably install Ubuntu. I've given it to a few people who are new to Linux and they've taken to it easily. It was really quick to install, painless to upgrade/update, and there's been negligable tech support too - it just works. Interestingly one is a Mac user who can't stand windows, but find's ubuntu great.

So they get an easy to use linux that they're happy with, and I spend less time doing tech support. Everyone wins.

Last edited by iphitus (2009-07-08 12:11:41)

zenlord · 2009-07-08 12:14:30

I think I'm in the same boat you are in now.

At our office (two pc-illiterates and me) we've been working for three years now exclusively on debian stable/testing. Stable for our server and testing for the clients (right now we're also using stable on the clients because of the recent change). At first my colleagues had to adapt to gnome, but after 1 month everything went smoothly.

Why not Arch?
1. Three years ago I hired someone to install our network
2. He installed NFS + LDAP + Kerberos, which is way passed my level of expertise
3. Just getting NFS v4 working proved to be impossible (that could have changed with the latest kernel)

I'd go for debian

Dieter@be · 2009-07-08 12:16:12

Cosmin wrote:

No restrictions Tell just what you think it's the best option for somebody in an office just writing documents and with a network with some widows machines and some shared printers.

Then imho it depends on who has to maintain the system, not on who will use it.
Eg my mom never installs a package or changes a setting herself, so I gave her Arch because I have to administer it and I think Arch is the best for that.
My uncle does want to install packages himself and change his setup him self (without doing too "advanced" things such as using the CLI) so I gave him fedora.

barzam · 2009-07-08 12:28:37

Dieter@be wrote:

Cosmin wrote:
No restrictions Tell just what you think it's the best option for somebody in an office just writing documents and with a network with some widows machines and some shared printers.
Then imho it depends on who has to maintain the system, not on who will use it.
Eg my mom never installs a package or changes a setting herself, so I gave her Arch because I have to administer it and I think Arch is the best for that.
My uncle does want to install packages himself and change his setup him self (without doing too "advanced" things such as using the CLI) so I gave him fedora.

Dieter spoke my mind, that's a very good point!

Trent · 2009-07-08 13:43:59

barzam wrote:

I can't see why Archlinux would be a worse choice than Ubuntu/Debian? Sure, the setup is a bit more time consuming but as someone said earlier: the user won't tell the difference anyway.

You could say the same thing about Gentoo, or Linux from Scratch, but I don't see anybody suggesting those. Quite simply, Ubuntu or (especially) Debian will be better set up out of the box and doesn't require much in the way of regular maintenance. Arch is cutting edge and can break at odd moments, whereas Debian's packages are all-but-guaranteed to work well together. Arch (imho) is a headache for someone who has to maintain lots of boxen; Debian is made for that purpose. It might be the same for the user, but much less trouble for the admin.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-07-07 15:37:30

OpenSUSE vs Ubuntu for small office

#2 2009-07-07 15:48:25

Re: OpenSUSE vs Ubuntu for small office

#3 2009-07-07 15:49:34

Re: OpenSUSE vs Ubuntu for small office

#4 2009-07-07 15:58:09

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#5 2009-07-07 16:30:27

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#6 2009-07-07 16:55:41

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#7 2009-07-07 17:04:29

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#8 2009-07-07 17:43:36

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#9 2009-07-07 17:51:43

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#10 2009-07-07 19:01:00

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#11 2009-07-07 19:15:46

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#12 2009-07-07 19:17:51

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#13 2009-07-07 19:20:39

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#14 2009-07-07 19:58:55

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#15 2009-07-07 20:03:07

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#16 2009-07-08 05:13:01

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#17 2009-07-08 10:53:19

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#18 2009-07-08 11:47:39

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#19 2009-07-08 11:59:49

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#20 2009-07-08 12:05:38

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#21 2009-07-08 12:10:39

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#22 2009-07-08 12:14:30

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#23 2009-07-08 12:16:12

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#24 2009-07-08 12:28:37

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#25 2009-07-08 13:43:59

Re: OpenSUSE vs Ubuntu for small office

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