> For someone new to Linux I would not recommend Debian as it can be a > pain to get all the hardware support sorted. I still can't get it > (Debian 6)to recognise my onboard sound system whereas Ubuntu, OpenSuSE > and Fedora picked it up easily during install. > > Derivatives such as Ubuntu 10.10 (11.04 is flawed) are easier to set up. > OpenSuSE 11.4 and Fedora 14 are also excellent choices. > > OpenSuSE 11.4 is on the cover disk of this month's APC magazine. > > Heracles
For complete newbie no distribution can compete with OpenSUSE and Mandriva. However newbies quickly become familiar with system and that's where problems begin when they're starting to push system's boundaries. Speaking about Debian, remember that there are 3 versions of it: 'stable', 'testing' and 'unstable'. Debian6 is 'stable' when Ubuntu make their distribution mostly from 'unstable' version. For Desktop you can install 'testing' or simply upgrade from 'stable' or even cherry pick packages from 'unstable'. Debian works perfectly with hardware so there is no 'hardware support' issue. But keep in mind that non-free drivers only available from 'non-free' repository which is disabled by default. While Ubuntu promote installation of non-free drivers I especially recommend Debian as far more superior distribution including support for non-free hardware. Regards, Dmitry. -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
