On Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:29:45 -0400, Warp wrote:

> Cousin Ricky <rickysttATyahooDOTcom> wrote:
>> But when I started looking into Linux, I found out about these things
>> called "distros."  My confusion may go up before my exasperation goes
>> down.  Ubuntu seems to be the big thing.  Any words, good or bad, about
>> Ubuntu?  Any other recommendations?
> 
>   OpenSuse.
> 
>   Although if you have an ATI display card, you might encounter problems
> getting it to work properly. Installing the ATI proprietary driver
> (which doesn't come with the distro because it's proprietary) usually
> solves the problem nicely, but it sometimes has bugs with some cards.
> You'll have to try older versions until you find one that works.
> 
>   I hear there are much less problems with NVidia cards.

As you say, it depends on the video controller.  I have a couple of 
laptops with ATI controllers embedded in them, and a desktop with an 
integrated nVidia controller.  Both work OK, (the ATI controllers are the 
same) but the nVidia controller no longer handles XGL/Compiz effects (but 
it used to).  The OSS nouveau driver works for many people with nVidia 
controllers as well.

ATI's drivers are a little weirder because it's not a unified driver, so 
you have to make sure you install the proper one.  In my experience, 
openSUSE does a good job of autodetecting and installing the proper 
driver once the ATI repository is added.

>   (OTOH AFAIK this isn't a problem exclusive to OpenSuse, and basically
>   all
> distros suffer from them.)

Yep.

Post a reply to this message