debian vs. suse...... just wondering

[mychl]

OK, here is why I'm asking this question. I have Suse 7.1 on my box, I like a lot, it is the first distro that i've been able to get online with and get X up the way I wanted it. I dnlded the isos for debian and I just want some one to tell me why I should use debian.

I will anyway, just to check it out, but I was hoping for some people to give me a heads up as to what is different, better etc...

Thanks is advance
:)

[Craig McPherson]

1. A much larger package selection -- the largest in the world.

2. More advanced package management -- the most advanced in the world.

3. Cohesiveness, stability, and organization -- the best in the... well, maybe not the best in the world, but better than most.

4. The largest all-volunteer developer base of any operating system.

5. Everything works. Better. Faster. Sexier. Freeer.

[mindwarp.out]

Originally posted by Craig McPherson:
<STRONG>1. A much larger package selection -- the largest in the world.

2. More advanced package management -- the most advanced in the world.

3. Cohesiveness, stability, and organization -- the best in the... well, maybe not the best in the world, but better than most.

4. The largest all-volunteer developer base of any operating system.

5. Everything works. Better. Faster. Sexier. Freeer.</STRONG>

Also becuase you have craig to bug the heck out of when you get stuck :)

I made the switch over from Mandrake to Debian a while ago.. and let me tell you.. package management is your savior... I used slackware also and used autoslack, and it destroyed all my libraries etc.. Debians apt-get, besides a buggy perl package (only in unstable, testign and stable both are almost totally bug free), has never steered me wrong.. I used Debian as my main desktop,and have PIII 733 with a GeForce 2 GTS running great, along with Quake 3, Unreal Tourney, Soldier of Fortune, and Counter-Strike (with wine).. it is very functional, and the strict standards with debian packages make your system very organized, easy to use, and efficient. So.. Suse and Debian both use the same kernels, alot of the same programs etc.. but 6 months down the road, all the crap that came with suse will be out of date, but your debian system will just keep on going and going, while being up to date. The only thing in my mind that is worth running besides debian would be freeBSD, but debian is still better for the desktop (atleast for me).

Mindwarp

[mychl]

Thanks for your time fellas, appreciate it.

I think I'm gonna put debian on tonight. :)

[Bully_Crist]

I'm going to try out the Progeny Linux version of Debian... it seems like it may be a little easier to work with than the official distro...(I'm a newbie!!... :P )

[ColdPack]

Progeny is pretty good, as a matter of fact!
Give it a whirl.

[SCuSI]

Let me just put in a few good words in SuSE defense. SuSE will work great out ot the box.
You will be able to configure 99% of things within a GUI enviroment. You will be able update and add new programs with relative ease. With that said, adding software that doesn't come directly from SuSE has the potential to mess things up and also alot of programs will be installed that you don't need and will slow your system down.
You may need to recompile the kernel to get everything to work with Debian but it doesn't come much easier than debian to recompile and install a new kernel.
Try as many distributions as you can you come to love and hate different aspects in all of them and then you can decide wich one that you favor.

[Craig McPherson]

Originally posted by SCuSI:
<STRONG>You will be able to configure 99% of things within a GUI enviroment.</STRONG>

Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I'm opposed to SuSE. I don't like distros that trained chimpanzees can use. I'd prefer Linux to be exclusive to slightly more sapient primates. Just one opinion, from your favorite local elitist jerk.

[SCuSI]

I should add thats only basic configuration. You usually can't fine tune or harness the full power of a command or program whentied to a GUI.

[sans-hubris]

Originally posted by mindwarp:
<STRONG>Also becuase you have craig to bug the heck out of when you get stuck :)
</STRONG>

Me too, me too!