Linux Which is better Ubuntu or Mandriva for first time

R

rahul1059

Disciple
Hi Frnds
I am new to linux but like it very much.I have read some of Darky's articles about linux and really they are very good:clap: . I like the smoothness and graphics of linux like ubuntu and mandriva , and once a while back I also installed ubuntu on my pc as it was the easiest linux os. Again I am keen to install linux on my pc but dont know much about them and also confused which linux to install. Plz give me some advice and reply of my queries. My queries are -
1) Latest ubuntu or mandriva also kde 4.1 or gnome
2) Can I control my gpu fan speed in linux
3) Which is easy for first time user.
4) I hv two 500gb hard drive , 1st has vista 32 bit , 2nd has windows 7 , can i dual boot linux with 2nd one which has windows 7.
5) which is better for media play.
6) Can one play pc games on any linux os...i thought one cant but I have seen a video on youtube in which nfs undercover was being played on linux os, dont know which os was that .
As I am new to linux so all advices and suggestions will act as booster on the new highway of linux.
 
http://www.techenclave.com/open-source/ubuntu-vs-mandriva-clash-of-titans-127701.html | http://www.techenclave.com/guides-a...efore-using-linux-117029.html?highlight=Linux

1. Ubuntu has Gnome and Mandriva has KDE 4.1 .. Though KDE 4.1 is the not the latest .. I will suggest you to use Gnome atm.. Go with Ubuntu.. If you want more GUI tools and easy setup system Mandriva is the way to go , even in Gnome...

2. Doono abt nvidia but yes if you have an ATI.. There's an OC utility for nvidia cards available in Linux NVClock - Nvidia overclocking on Linux! The newly released beta 4 has support for GTX 2XX series :) NO GUI OC tool for ATI though.. You can use Commandline aticonfig and aticonf -od to OC in case of ATI Card.

3. Both are good...

4. Ermm.. You can triple ,quad and multiple boot.. Grub is rock solid boot manager :) Just make sure you partition correctly ..

5. Both have full support for media play.. Also OS is not responsible for media playback its the codecs.. Mandirva has better out of the box codecs than Ubuntu .. both has automated codec installer for ease of installation..

6. Yes you can play through wine.. Even in full scrren but don't think to work as fast as it work in Windows :p You can using Wine ,,
 
1) Go for Ubuntu or linux mint(based on ubuntu) mate its easier for starters...:cool2:
2) Ain't so sure about ask others :no:
3) Ubuntu all the way here :eek:hyeah:
4) Yeah you can mate...grub to rescue
5)Linux mint is one that comes preinstalled with all the codecs or else both ubuntu and mandriva are equally good
6) Hmm yes mate you can play games on linux install wine or yourself crossover games which a professional wine software and its not free :bleh:
Windows Games Seamlessly Integrated on Mac or Linux - CrossOver Games
 
I would add opensuse 11 also in the list to add to the confusion of the OP.. :p

On a more serious note, I've found openSuse also very very user-friendly and it also has a very good online community..
 
krishnavamshi24 said:
1) Go for Ubuntu or linux mint(based on ubuntu) mate its easier for starters...:cool2:
2) Ain't so sure about ask others :no:
3) Ubuntu all the way here :eek:hyeah:
4) Yeah you can mate...grub to rescue
5)Linux mint is one that comes preinstalled with all the codecs or else both ubuntu and mandriva are equally good
6) Hmm yes mate you can play games on linux install wine or yourself crossover games which a professional wine software and its not free :bleh:
Windows Games Seamlessly Integrated on Mac or Linux - CrossOver Games
Click to expand...
Why to use paid alternative when free one are there ? Wine is free and the base of all the emulators whether they are free or paid..
 
Before you install it, you can try both of them out using the Live CD. Simply boot with the CD and it will load itself to your RAM. No changes to the HD at all. And you can access your HD too!
 
Anytime Ubuntu for:

1) better package management

2)Gnome is Newbie friendly;I recommend not to try Kubuntu(kde) or Xubuntu(Xfce) -they are broken especially kubuntu.I feel ,Ubuntu team may be dumping these seperate distros for a common Ubuntu one.

3)Excellent support via Ubuntu Forums

4) apt and dpkg beats the sh1t out of rpm based mandrake/fedora/suse.

5)easy upgrade to next version without formatting and other BS.

6)uses upstart event based intit daemon which is far more superior.infact fedora also is using it now.

7)It Simply Works!unlike many other distros(esp RPM based) which may be springled well with eye candy to attract first time user with all fancy.but in the end ,usability issues are a major concern.

8)DEBIAN based distro- Simply superb.

9)most softwares are available via apt(synaptic) .no need to search for .debs .infact ,few softwares are particularly for Ubuntu! GetDeb - Software for Ubuntu Linux

10)It is closly following the FOSS principles.not yet any Enterprise version and other craps(like RHEL wale beta testing with fedora users ).

Thats it :)
 
Thanks for all your replies...

I was busy the whole day , came at 10pm at home so will download the latest ubuntu which i think is 8.10...Really the more i m learning about linux os like ubuntu , mandriva the more i m liking it.

First I thought that linux will be hard but slowly after knowing about it i think it is quite easy with tons of feature and is an awesome os. Hoping all goes well while installing ubuntu and using it.
 
praka123 said:
Anytime Ubuntu for:
1) better package management

2)Gnome is Newbie friendly;I recommend not to try Kubuntu(kde) or Xubuntu(Xfce) -they are broken especially kubuntu.I feel ,Ubuntu team may be dumping these seperate distros for a common Ubuntu one.

3)Excellent support via Ubuntu Forums

4) apt and dpkg beats the sh1t out of rpm based mandrake/fedora/suse.

5)easy upgrade to next version without formatting and other BS.

6)uses upstart event based intit daemon which is far more superior.infact fedora also is using it now.

7)It Simply Works!unlike many other distros(esp RPM based) which may be springled well with eye candy to attract first time user with all fancy.but in the end ,usability issues are a major concern.

8)DEBIAN based distro- Simply superb.

9)most softwares are available via apt(synaptic) .no need to search for .debs .infact ,few softwares are particularly for Ubuntu! GetDeb - Software for Ubuntu Linux

10)It is closly following the FOSS principles.not yet any Enterprise version and other craps(like RHEL wale beta testing with fedora users ).

Thats it :)
Click to expand...
i second that

gnome -----------------------simple , stable , just works
pkg mgmt -------------------much better than rpm
ubuntu forums--------------kickass (hugest , baddest , most comprehensive linux forums )
awesome 6 months release cycle --------- each new version is a definite improvement over previous one
 
People become so absurd..Have you ever read rpm package before posting crap comment.. I have read the whole rpm and deb packages, both have their ups and downs and I'll still prefer rpm over deb :p

awesome 6 months release cycle --------- each new version is a definite improvement over previous one
Click to expand...

Every major distro have 6month release cycle :p
 
rahul1059 said:
Thanks for all your replies...
I was busy the whole day , came at 10pm at home so will download the latest ubuntu which i think is 8.10...Really the more i m learning about linux os like ubuntu , mandriva the more i m liking it.
First I thought that linux will be hard but slowly after knowing about it i think it is quite easy with tons of feature and is an awesome os. Hoping all goes well while installing ubuntu and using it.
Click to expand...

Any issues do post in mate welcome to the world of no BSOD :hap2:
 
I downloaded ubuntu 8.10 in night and burned the iso file to make bootable cd...but when I started installing the ubuntu on my 500gb drive which had also windows 7 and I got confused in partitioning , it showed some options
1) use entire disk (i hv 4 primary pertitions in my both 500gb drives) which I will not do
2) manual
I got confused in manual , actually I created a primary partition for ubuntu installation using partition editor of ubuntu but when I selected this partition for installation it was not installing (I didnt knew how and how much space I give to root , swap , home )...
Finally I am installing ubuntu on a separate 80gb hd which was extra with me , writing from ubuntu using live cd :)
So can you guys tell how do I install ubuntu on a single primary partition of my hard drive......
 
1. Whatever partition it is break it in 2 .. Since you are new no separate home is required..

1. Create 2 partition one of big size and other of 2-3gb .. Format the partions using Gparted [System-> Administration ->Partition Editor].. Format the small one as Swap and Big one as ext3..

Now onto partitioning.. Choose manual.. and double click on the big [ext3] partition and select it to format with ext3 and mount it with / ... Don't worry all options are there ...

No need to mount small one it will be automatically be used as swap..

Continue the installation :)
 
Ok I had one big empty ntfs partition 117gb (primary) now I hv resized it to make one big for / mount (will format it with ext3 once fully resized) and other smaller one for swap.........
 
Finally installed ubuntu successfully.:eek:hyeah:
swbvhe.jpg

Now I will install my video drivers and will do some desktop customization. But dont know about desktop tools like widgets and themes in vista....
 
Do you got a nvidia card?get yourself latest driver 180.22

follow "my procedure" if you want latest driver.ubuntu repo got old 180.11 driver afaik :D

I dont use restricted repo for nvidia drivers etc.

download latest 180.22 driver for GNU/Linux from nvidia site.

i

1)

chown +x NVIDIA_DRIVER.sh

2)sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`

3) /etc/init.d/gdm stop

4) run the installer.

5)when completed ,

"modprobe nvidia && depmod -ae" without quotes.

--

that's it.
 
rahul1059 said:
Finally installed ubuntu successfully.:eek:hyeah:
swbvhe.jpg

Now I will install my video drivers and will do some desktop customization. But dont know about desktop tools like widgets and themes in vista....
Click to expand...

Ok now for the themes part you can get all your themes from Eyecandy for your GNOME-Desktop - GNOME-Look.org and download them and install them

If you want more clarity do ask...you can even find GDM themes the ones that you need to install to change the login theme...:hap2:

praka123 said:
Do you got a nvidia card?get yourself latest driver 180.22
follow "my procedure" if you want latest driver.ubuntu repo got old 180.11 driver afaik :D
I dont use restricted repo for nvidia drivers etc.
download latest 180.22 driver for GNU/Linux from nvidia site.
i
1)
chown +x NVIDIA_DRIVER.sh
2)sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`
3) /etc/init.d/gdm stop
4) run the installer.
5)when completed ,
"modprobe nvidia && depmod -ae" without quotes.
--
that's it.
Click to expand...

Wondering where you need to type all that you need to
open up the terminal from the applications
and make sure you download the driver on the desktop :hap2:
 
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