Desktop Linux Showdown

Desktop Linux Showdown

OpenSUSEs configuration tools are broken out into perhaps too many separate pieces.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Control Center Search

Theres a search box to help cut through the control panel maze, but it doesnt always deliver. To find font configuration tools, I should have been searching for appearance.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Beagle Desktop Search

OpenSUSE relies on Beagle for desktop search.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Bluetooth via Beagle

I wanted to check out OpenSUSEs Bluetooth functionality, and Beagle led me to the spot.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Bluetooth on Fedora

I was able to transfer files between my Treo and my Fedora 8-based test notebook, but I could not get the two talking via Fedoras new Phone Manager application.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Ubuntus Desktop Search

Ubuntu turns to Tracker for its desktop search needs.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Kerry Beagle Front End

OpenSUSEs KDE implementation also leans on Beagle for desktop search. I find the KDE Beagle front end, Kerry, more useful than the GNOME-based version.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Evolution Backup and Restore

GNOME 2.20, shown here on Fedora 8, comes with a very useful backup and restore feature for Evolution. Ubuntu 7.10 also includes this option, but the version of Evolution that comes with OpenSUSE, strangely, does not.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Online Desktop Demo

Fedora 8 offers an early look at Red Hats Online Desktop initiative. At this point, the software amounts to little more than a handful of links to online services.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Online Desktop in Action

Fedora 8s online desktop demo connected me, through Firefox, to a set of online services.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Tomboy Tasks

As implemented in OpenSUSE, the Tomboy note-taking tool (which is one of my favorite applications) offers an integrated task list option that Ubuntu and Fedoras Tomboy implementations lack.

Desktop Linux Showdown – OpenOffice.org 2.3

Ubuntu 7.10 (shown here), OpenSUSE 10.3 and Fedora 8 all ship with the OpenOffice.org 2.3 office productivity suite.

Desktop Linux Showdown – OOXML Support

The version of OpenOffice.org that ships with OpenSUSE supports Microsofts OOXML format. Ubuntu also offers this support, while Fedora does not.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Restricted Software Repository

Ubuntu 7.10 made it easy to enable ATIs proprietary graphics adapter driver-once I enabled the ‘restricted’ software repository.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Driver Installation

OpenSUSEs driver installation utility looked promising, but it didnt manage to enable my test systems ATI driver.

Desktop Linux Showdown – KDE Start Menu

OpenSUSEs KDE implementation is very slick. The OpenSUSE 10.3 KDE Start Menu, for instance, definitely outshines that of its GNOME cousin.

Desktop Linux Showdown – More KDE Start Menu

OpenSUSEs KDE Start Menu returns search results as you type.

Desktop Linux Showdown – My OpenSUSE Computer

OpenSUSEs KDE implementation sports a rather handy system state overview page.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Kubuntu 7.10

Ubuntu boasts a KDE implementation of its own.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Delta RPM

OpenSUSE features bandwidth-saving delta RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) update support. Neither Fedora nor Ubuntu offers this capability.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Debconf

Ubuntus package configuration application, Debconf, is a big competitive advantage for the distribution.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Zypper

The new OpenSUSE 10.3 command-line software management tool, Zypper, presents information effectively.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Resolve Dependency Problems

OpenSUSEs software tools offer very granular options for resolving package dependency problems.

Desktop Linux Showdown – More Dependency Resolution

OpenSUSEs software dependency-resolving tools work from the command line, as well.

Desktop Linux Showdown – Are You Sure You Want to Remove That?

Fedoras software management tools warned me about removing an old kernel version from my test system.