Disclaimer ::
My default distributions is PCLinuxOS and I am not a fanboy of either Ubuntu or OpenSUSE.
I have tried to be as impartial as I can, but I am human after all and can be biased.
This comparison is written purely with people new to Linux or for people who wants to get things done easily.
Advanced users may find it lacking or might even differ with my views, apologies to them, but I am basing this for average user.
I know that some people are against SUSE for the deal with M$, however, this comparison totally ignores politics and focuses only
on ease of use, even if some features are a result of M$ deal.
I had done the similar comparison some times earlier with OpenSUSE 10.2 and Ubuntu/Kubuntu 6.10.
In that I found SUSE leading on most accounts. However, this time I am going with Ubuntu Gutsy ( 7.10) and OpenSUSE 10.3.
Ubuntu Gutsy is proclaimed to be the best Ubuntu ever and it really appears to be, everything simply works .
On the other hand, OpenSUSE 10.3 though great release, but I had some stability issues with it.
I will use the same comparison factors as I have used in the earlier comparison. Lets not waste your time and get started
Installation :
OpenSUSE impresses from the first boot, of the install CD, itself. I was greeted with a beautiful screen screen.
Ubuntu too does a good job but them SUSE reflects elegance.
The Green Welcome |
Boot Selector |
 |
 |
The Ubuntu Screen |
 |
OpenSUSE loads into a nice looking GUI installer. It is the same installer that was in 10.2, though a little more improved.
Ubuntu on the other hand boots into a nice looking LiveCD. Ubuntu also offers an alternate install CD which has advanced install options.
SUSE install is very comprehensive and results in adding the required Non-OSS ( Non -Open Source Software) repositories.
However, this takes a huge amount of time, 6 hours on my 256 kbps connection.
Ubuntu install takes just 30 minutes, but does not add extra repositories.
Here I would give Ubuntu the advantage as installing from a LiveCD is much easier for a normal user,
also LiveCD gives the benefit of doing other things ( Like browsing the net) while install is going on.
In case of SUSE for nearly 7 hours my desktop was useless.
Scores : Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 1
The initial Grub Screen:
SUSE displays a very exciting and eye pleasing GRUB menu.
Ubuntu has a text based grub by default which looks ugly in comparison.
Though we can install a SUSE type GRUB on Ubuntu, as described in my previous post, still the SUSE GRUB looks much more elegant.
Here I am giving less score to Ubuntu as even after tinkering with command line, the GRUB of SUSE is still better.
Scores: Ubuntu 0, OpenSUSE 2
Boot Speed:
Looks like that with the new release both OpenSUSE as well as Ubuntu have improved the boot speeds.
On my AMD 3200+ , 1GB RAM desktop I could not make out any difference between the boot speed of the two.
Kudos to the devs of SUSE and Ubuntu for improving the boot speed.
Scores: Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 2
GDM login Menu :
Ubuntu has improved a lot on the look and feel, however, the green of SUSE still takes the cake.
Check out these login screens of the two.
SUSE GDM |
Ubuntu GDM |
 |
 |
Both the login screens are clean, with only the distro logo and place to enter login id. I prefer the green screen
of SUSE, but then its my personal choice.
Scores: Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 2
Gnome Menu:
Ubuntu has stock GNOME menu which definitely pales in comparison to the beautiful SLAB menu of SUSE.
Though some people claim that SUSE has heavily modified the GNOME menu and made it look like KDE,
but man just have a look at the images below and decide for yourself.
SUSE Gnome Menu |
Ubuntu GNOME Menu |
 |
 |
Scores: Ubuntu 1, OpenSUSE 2
OpenOffice:
Novell has a deal with M$ and hence has improved the OpenOffice to incorporate M$ "proprietary" code in it.
Ubuntu has no such liberty, so its OO is stock again. SUSE OO also has better look and feel.
The load time of OO in SUSE is also faster than that in Ubuntu.
Please ignore the politics behind M$ deal and just look at the features.
Scores Ubuntu 0, OpenSUSE 2
Theme:
Ubuntu has really refined its look and feel and now even the default desktop looks WOW!.
I just loved the default wallpaper, nautilus theme and icon sets. Every thing is just WOW.
However, when I compare this to the highly integrated green theme of SUSE, SUSE appears much ahead.
All applications on the desktop look as part of one single theme and well blended.
Again Ubuntu developers missed blending some of the applications with the beautiful human theme.
Scores: Ubuntu 1, OpenSUSE 2
Default Applications:
Ubuntu comes with almost all the applications I use on GNOME , like Totem, Rythembox, Tomboy, Firefox, F-SPOT, GIMP etc.
I even came with tracker search tool pre-installed.
SUSE too has a very good collection of default applications. It has almost all that Ubuntu has with Banshee replacing Rythembox.
Now Banshee can play and import audio CDs and play and synchronize music with iPods, as well as Creative Zen players. I can easily sync with my iPod and export my playlist to last.fm.
Question: When Ubuntu can come with F-SPOT as default application, why not Banshee too ?
However, I felt that SUSE installs too many applications, a little too many and despite installing all these there is not default search tool.
Scores: Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 1
Stability:
I had bad experiences with both.
In KDE version of OpenSUSE, XServer crashes when I try to play any video file.
In Ubuntu, when I asked F-SPOT to look at my FAT drive (20 GB) for photos, the entire OS simply got hung.
I could not even go to virtual terminals and a hard reboot was the only solution.
Though these are the only two instances of instability in both, but they are reproducible.
I would not rate any one as good in stability.
Scores: Ubuntu 0, OpenSUSE 0
Installing Java, Codecs etc:
This is one area where both have done tremendous improvements and have made things easy.
In both if Totem does not find the correct codecs, it will ask for searching and subsequently installing them.
I was not aware of this functionality in SUSE and had already installed java and codecs using 1-Click install.
Later on I read this at DVD-Guide.
Scores: Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 2
Package management:
YAST2 is the package manager for SUSE and it works well.
SUSE has now integrated Guru repository with packman repository, thus decreasing the number of repositories.
One major issue I had with YAST2 is that every time when I start YAST2 it loads all the repositories and downloads from internet.
This really slows up everything. On the contrary Ubuntu has the famous and revered Synaptic.
Synaptic makes installing/ removing/updating very easy and its much faster than YAST2.
Scores: Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 1
System configurations:
Ubuntu has GUI tools for many admin tasks but they are all segregated. I this respect I like the Control Center of PCLinuxOS ( derived from Mandriva).
YAST2 goes a step further and make admin and configurations a child's play.
SUSE Administration |
Ubuntu Administration |
 |
 |
Scores: Ubuntu 1, OpenSUSE 2
Security:
Both have AppArmor by default. A word about AppArmor:
AppArmor proactively protects the system from security threats, both internal and external. It enforce the applications to only be able to access resources aimed to be accessed by the application. In this way the system is protected to both known and unknown threats.For each application we want to protect or increase the security around, a security profile is created. The profile describes what files or devices the application is allowed to read, write and/or execute.
Scores : Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 2
Fonts: In both the distributions, I had to install MS and Apple fonts.
Its very easy to install and use different fonts in both the distributions.
Scores: Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 2
Community Support: Here I would maintain my previous statement. SUSE is a very mature distribution and enjoys a good community support, however, that dwarfs in comparison to Ubuntu community. If you post a single thread to Ubuntu forums, there will be multiple instant replies. The Ubuntu community is huge and very active. Best part is that they are very helpful. The Ubuntu forums are full of HOWTOs and various tips and tricks. In terms of technical knowledge Ubuntu forums can easily rival Gentoo forums.
Scores: Ubuntu 2, OpenSUSE 1
Conclusion:After watching openSuSE 10.3 from its early days in development, I think the developers at openSuSE have done a great job. After the review finished I was sure that for a newcomer to the linux world openSuSE 10.3 is the best place to be. With Autoupdater, 1-Click Install, Easy Repository Management, Easy Software & System Administration, you can not go wrong with openSuSE 10.3. Surely for many users this may not mean much, however for someone new to Linux openSUSE 10.3 is probably the best distribution to try. However, I still prefer Synaptic over YAST2 and then SUSE had the XServer crashes.
This new release of Ubuntu is the most user friendly and well supported Ubuntu I've ever used. Most hardware seems to just work out of the box with the help of the their restricted driver manager. The system is very configurable and well integrated. The inclusion of Tracker for desktop search technology take the system up a whole new notch of usability. It's not there yet, of course, but for me this release certainly improves on the firm base set down by previous releases.
At the same time, I would like the theme to be more integrated into default desktop and Ubuntu need to get away from the system freeze like I experienced with F-Spot.
Who the winner is ??? Do simple maths.
Acknowledgments:
- Distrowatch. For tis review of both Ubuntu and OpenSUSE
- Sunny's Review of OpenSUSE.
- Phorolinux. For the excellent screenshots.
- DVD-Guides. For their SUSE review.
Blogged with Flock
