Ubuntu user thinking of switching to Fedora

[slughappy1]

Is there anything I should know? What's different ( in a general sense )? Oh and I plan on having gnome not kde as my main.

[Dan]

Right off the top of my head, I'd say go with F8, not F9 (quite yet), get used to rapid turnover, be prepared when updates break things, and also be ready to learn how to put those extra proprietary softwares in on your own.

That all being said, try the F8 and F9 liveCDs! You can install from there, and it'll give you the flavor of the distro.

[sidebrnz]

One important difference between Fedora and Ubuntu is how they're administered. Fedora is a classic Linux, designed for a multi-user environment, while Ubuntu is set up for systems with (generally) one user. That means that instead of using your own password to authenticate for system maintenance, you actually have to have (and use) a root password, different (I hope!) from the one you use to log on with. It's not that hard to switch back and forth, but you do need to know that when you want to install software, your regular password just isn't going to work. (Fedora does have sudo, but it's not set up by default because the normal process is to use su to become root.)

[slughappy1]

What do you mean by rapid turnover? Oh and I forgot to ask about drivers. I have a Dell Inspiron 1420. Since everything is pretty much fully functioning in Ubuntu, it should be the same in Fedora right?

I've got to ask this, but if Ubuntu works why do you want to switch?

Wayne

[Dan]

Rapid turnover is best explained here.

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/LifeCycle

Have a look here while you're at it.

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Objectives?

[pparks1]

Originally Posted by sidebrnz

One important difference between Fedora and Ubuntu is how they're administered. Fedora is a classic Linux, designed for a multi-user environment, while Ubuntu is set up for systems with (generally) one user. That means that instead of using your own password to authenticate for system maintenance, you actually have to have (and use) a root password, different (I hope!) from the one you use to log on with.

I'm sorry, but your understanding of what is happening here is completely wrong. Ubuntu is a multi-user environment, just as much as Fedora is. With Ubuntu, you are NOT using the root account or the root password....EVER. Instead, Ubuntu uses the sudo system and has your first user account that you create on install setup to be able to run the sudo system and thus gain root level privs when needed. Sudo is a common system that has been used in all Linux distros for quite some time. I use it everyday in my enterprise Red Hat and CentOS systems that I administer for a living.


I've used both Ubuntu and Fedora quite extensively. For my work systems, it's Red Hat Enterprise or CentOS all the way. For desktops....my preference for most people is Ubuntu. While I do use Fedora quite a bit....it's quite difficult sometimes to get everything working, updates are frequent and do tend to break things, and it's not supported for very long at all. All in all, it's a fine distro for what it is. But it's not the most user friendly or stable distro around. But the user community (especially here)...is great!!!!

[sidebrnz]

Although I don't personally use Ubuntu, my sister does and I do her tech support, so I'm quite familiar with it, TYVM. My point was (and is) that Ubuntu is designed for single-user machines, with only one account. Instead of having a root account and using su, you use sudo when you're in a termnal. When you're doing something that needs elevated permissions from a GUI, you use your password, not the root password. My guess is that this shows that the actual user is trying to do things, rather than somebody who just walked up and decided to mess around.

[brebs]

Originally Posted by pparks1

With Ubuntu, you are NOT using the root account or the root password....EVER.

Hmm? Become root in Ubuntu with:

sudo su

[Finalzone]

Try System->Preferences->Authorizations (Fedora 9).
That tool is neat and probably overlooked in this topic. It allows to easy assign a rule for users when doing administration stuffs like install/remove package replacing the old sudo method.

[Lod]

I've switched from Ubuntu to Fedora 9 recently.
The biggest difference is that it isn't brown.
And Fedora is less forthcoming on the propietary graphic drivers and multimedia codecs. If you use the script of dangermouse however, there should be no problem in that matter.

In some area's they have different approaches of how to solve things. My overall impression is that Ubuntu is snappier but rough around the edges while Fedora is a smooth walk on a reasonable pace.

[pparks1]

Originally Posted by brebs

Hmm? Become root in Ubuntu with:

sudo su

Yes, I do realize this. However, I don't think that Ubuntu intends for the average person to sudo su to root. At least to the point where you aren't going to see their user guides and admin guides suggesting sudo su -

You could however run
sudo su -
passwd
Set_to_whatever

And now you have the ability to logon with root if you choose to do so.

[pparks1]

Originally Posted by sidebrnz

My point was (and is) that Ubuntu is designed for single-user machines, with only one account. Instead of having a root account and using su, you use sudo when you're in a termnal.

Ok, so Ubuntu has 1 typical account setup by default (the user account) and fedora has 2 accounts (root and the user account). However, you can easily add a user to either system...so I fail to see how you could consider Ubuntu to be a single-user operating system while Fedora is a multi-user operating system. And also, behind the scenes Ubuntu does have a root account...just check out /etc/passwd for proof. It just doesn't have a password set that the end user knows. (sudo su -, passwd, _____ is a simple solution to that.

Originally Posted by sidebrnz

When you're doing something that needs elevated permissions from a GUI, you use your password, not the root password.

It's not limited to just the GUI...that applies to command line as well. And this is functionality of SUDO...it has nothing to do with Ubuntu specifically...except for the fact that Ubuntu uses the Sudo system by default and Redhat/Fedora don't.

Personally, I like the sudo system and deploy it on my Fedora/Redhat/CentOS boxes as well. The thing that I don't like about just using su to gain root access is then all of the commands that are saved into .bash_history are in root's bash history...so you don't really know which person who had root access was doing something. And when you work for a business and have mutliple admins...it's nice to know which admin did what.

In addition, the use of the sudo system makes it nice when an employee/admin leaves an organization because you can simply change the root password on the linux machines...but it isn't necessary to actually provide the password to anybody else. As long as they are set up in the sudo system....they never actually have to have access to that password.


I'm not trying to argue or come off like a jerk....but it annoys me that people seem to "poo-poo" Ubuntu as some type of "Linux-lite" distribution that cannot hold it's own against other "real" Linux distros.

[sidebrnz]

I understand the difference between sudo and su, and how to use both. My point is that (as I see it, at least) Ubuntu is designed for computers that are only used by one person. (Yes, you can add other users, but as I imagine it, that's not very common. Of course, ICBW.) That one person is both the regular user and the administrator, so why have two different passwords for the same person? If that's how the machine is set up, it makes sense, and I'm not putting Ubuntu down. My sister uses it quite well, after using Windows for a number of years. Yes, there was a learning curve, but not that bad because she was already using Firefox and Thunderbird. (As a side note, I just learned that Firefox 3's dictionary doesn't have Firefox or Thunderbird in it by default. Weird, and a tad funny!) After less than two months, I'm finding that she needs no more help with Ubuntu than she did with Windows and that's great! I don't want to think about how long it would take to get to that point with Fedora!

I would never put down Ubuntu, although I describe it as a distro for "Windows refugees." That is, it's designed to be as easy as possible for somebody with only Windows experience to learn so that they can be productive in a minimum time. That's not a bad goal, BTW. If Linux is ever going to grow, many of the new users are going to have to come from the Dark Side. Making it easy to use what they already know is a Good Thing!

[Dies]

Ubuntu sucks! What a n00b distro, if it can even be called an actual distro. More like some type of "Linux-lite" distribution that cannot even hold it's own against other "real" Linux distros. Distro for Dummies.

// .. typing this from Ubuntu 8.04 btw..