Anandtech Benchmarks Fedora, Suse, and Windows XP

[Bana]

Yesterday, Anandtech released an article (http://www.anandtech.com/linux/showdoc.aspx?i=2114&p=1) that benchmarked the performance of both 32bit and 64bit apps in the three operating systems. Frankly, Fedora is not shown in the best of light being considerably slower than both Suse and Windows XP in video encoding (almost 60% slower) along with others and having issues with out-of-the-box installation of Nvidia drivers. Nonetheless, a very interesting article.

[Viro]

Given that Fedora was competitive and even faster than SuSE in the other tests, something is definitely wrong with the video encoding test.

[imdeemvp]

i am glad fedora is being notice!

[PSG1]

Well they can stick their tests in.....
Sorry for that but knowing that other distros trying to kill Red Hat / Fedora makes me sick. This is the only distro it does the job of being great desktop.

[Avatraxiom]

It's probably a misconfiguration of one kind or another, based on the fact that certain libraries aren't installed by default in Fedora, where they are installed in SuSE or Mandrake.

[David]

Well they can stick their tests in.....
Sorry for that but knowing that other distros trying to kill Red Hat / Fedora makes me sick. This is the only distro it does the job of being great desktop.
:confused:

I've heard very positive things about SuSE from many different people. I didn't think the test was trying to "kill" Fedora, or any other distro; it just published the results of a test. Is it really surprising that Fedora was beaten by Windows and SuSE when they both come with a price tag and Fedora's free? You know, it's generally true that you get what you pay for.

Btw, I mentioned in the other thread on this article that it was a shame about no Apple machines. I guess it's because they wanted to test the same CPU. All the same, it could be interesting to see OS X compared to a linux build for the cpu inside the apple (is it an IBM now?).

[drunkahol]

Well they can stick their tests in.....
Sorry for that but knowing that other distros trying to kill Red Hat / Fedora makes me sick. This is the only distro it does the job of being great desktop.

You have to be very carefull when looking at test results.

Step One: Do NOT complain at the results
Step Two: Reproduce the results
Step Three: Investigate any problems that may come to the surface :eek:
Step Four: Fix any problems that have come out of the tests :confused:

Step One Hundred: Complain to yourself inwardly but not in public

Only by testing and fixing do things get better. Do you think that Formula 1 race cars complain about each other and that it's not fair that so and so says their team is slower??? No - at race days the fastest car/driver/team combination wins. That's what happens here too. Don't get it out of proportion.

There could easily be a poorly configured part of Fedora that has brought these test results down. It requires investigation.

Duncan

[Bana]

drunkahol: I like your analogy :D And yes, that is an excellent point, has anyone been able to reproduce that encoding benchmark slowness?

[earobinson111]

wow very intresting anyone know of any other good linux rateing sites?

[PSG1]

Well guys for me that was paid propaganda for Novell/IBM 's SUSE software. Nothing more.
drunkahol: Yes you can reproduce this test if you buy the same hardware. How about they use hardware that is certified on FC2 ? They took hardware that it is known to work on SUSE. Maybe they should ask on what software/hardware 3d design studios work? Anybody heard any studios running SUSE, I did not.

[tamilian]

I heard that Hollywood Studio is running SUSE.

[Viro]

I heard that Hollywood Studio is running SUSE.

Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) uses Linux[1]. They're the guys responsible for the Star Wars effects. They use their own custom 3D programs with a FLTK GUI. They seem to use RedHat.

George Lucas isn't the only one who sees something in Linux. For all the claims of OS X's superiority and the much vaunted Virginia Tech G5 supercomputer, Pixar (Steve Job's baby) seems to think Intel Xeons running Linux are better suited to their render farms [2]. No idea what version of Linux is being used.

Dreamworks[3] is also using Linux in a big way. From the article Leonard reports DreamWorks is very happy with Red Hat and has a close relationship with them through HP.

RedHat seems to be pretty dominant in the Hollywood studios. Does it matter what distro they use? Not really since all of them seem to use Linux to run proprietary software. That in itself ISN'T a bad thing but it just means that other Linux users who lack cash (like me) don't see the benefits of those cool cutting edge programs that they use.

Apparrently, Disney[4] also makes use of Linux in a big way. They are using RedHat. That should cover about every major studio in Hollywood.

Thought I'd just add some references so to correct and complement tamilian's post. Many Hollywood studios are using Linux, most of them are just on RedHat.

References
[1] http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6011
[2] http://news.com.com/2100-1001-983898.html?tag=fd_top
[3] http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6103
[4] http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1210083,00.asp

[PSG1]

That's my point. If studios use it for their 3D work. Do you guys still believe that benchmark was remotely correct? It was not.It was paid propaganda nothing more. Novell/IBM are trying to push SUSE on everybody so they can controll the market for enterprise. For us it is a simple thing from Red Hat we get beta version of enterprise edition software that has full functionality for free. From SUSE we get scraps from the table for free. Red Hat rulez!!!!

[grymuz]

Well Guys
i don't care about the benchmarks, i was using windows for quite long, and i've changed to linux. I had Aurox, then Fedora 2 and i also tried Mandrake 10.
And You know what?
Fedora is awesome, it has some bugs,but mandrake 10 is a crap it asked me for a 4 cd during install which wasn't on the servers :). It looks like if it was runing an 486. Fedora looks nice, works nice
Fedora is NICE, so whether it's 60% slower in some test (i don't believe in such big differnce by the way) it's much more reliable by M$, i haven't tried suse. But comparing to other distros its both user friendly and powerfull (as sad changed to fedora from windows, did some googling and everything works nice)

See You

[kondor]

The tests aside, SuSE is available as a free download. A lack of "cash" shouldn't hinder getting SuSE although a lack of broadband might.

I think it would be foolish to deny that Fedora doesn't have its glitches. I've never installed a perfect distro. The lack of Nvidia drivers certainly is a major glitch. If the manufacturers don't provide them,. they have to be written. Additionally, the processor was a 64bit AMD. Since the 64bit deal is somewhat new, the level of "engineering" input for a distro shop would be critical. The other tests were favorable.

The true test will be when MS gets its stuff together and really introduces a 64bit system.

Now this will really draw "incoming" but you can measure the success of Linux on the desktop (whatever the distro) by the number of posts concerning dual boots - namely, WinXX and Linux.

When the posts concerning dualboot issues vanish, Linux on the Desktop will have arrived.

That is to say, when WinXX is no longer on the boxes..........Only Linux.............

As to the video test......the "pros" aren't downloading ISOs and burning cds. They purchase support from Redhat, SuSE, etc. In other words, they put the cash where the job gets done.

Fedora is an entirely different animal. Unlike Debian, it will suffer growing pains partly because of the release schedule. Debian is slow but sure.

In any case, if you aren't trying to produce animated features with FedoraCx, what's the big deal?

For the average newby, Fedora is an excellent place to start. I might also suggest that FedoraC1 installs so easily and automatically that it is a Windows killer!

[I can remember the junk offered as "distributions" some years ago. Speaking from a desktop standpoint. Take forever to get the stuff all working. No drivers, etc. Now, Linux has arrived and most distros are so bloated with stuff that you gotta have a mainframe (just joking).]

It is still the case that you can take a fresh box and install WinXX and expect everything to work. No Mickey Mouse programs that don't work properly, video cards are recognized, etc.

FedoraC1 has come that close on one of my Pent 4 boxes. Absolutely automatic. Astounding!

But, SuSE is also free. If you don't mind those krauts sticking their tongues out at you, get some! :D

[Thoreau]

I use Core 2 at work and Novell's Suse 9.1 Pro(off of the DVD's that they were giving out. We use Novell at work and my boss got the DVD's, i'm just a student so they don't care) at home. I like both distro's. I use Suse at home becuase redhat9 Core1 or Core2 could not use my ethernet out of the box. Suse did. M sound works just fine, and i don't care too much about my vid card working to it's max, I still use windows to play my games.

[sayonara]

For us it is a simple thing from Red Hat we get beta version of enterprise edition software that has full functionality for free.

Is it really that simple??? I'm reasonably new to Linux and I'm still trying to find a distro to stick with. I quite Like Fedora but it's causing me a few niggling little problems. While I like the fact that Fedora is free (really like this fact), not to mention the extensive help available online, it does give a slight feeling of insecurity compared to a supported, paid-for distro like SUSE or RH Enterprise. I know that Fedore is a test bed for RHEL but are we actually getting a beta version of a stable, comprehensive OS or a linux distro that will never be 100% reliable due to its constant beta status? Just to quote the Redhat Fedora site (http://www.redhat.com/fedora/), thay describe Fedora as "A proving ground for new technology that may eventually make its way into Red Hat products." [/I]

Just to illustrate this, I have noticed a lot of people posting about problems that they encountered after installing FC2 witch they didn't have in FC1. If it's a case that upgrading to a new release has an equal chance of causing problems with previously reliable features as fixing previous problems, then as a new user I would have my reservations about settling on Fedora.

That said, I'm not geting rid of it yet! My next step is going to be cleaning up a bit more HD space to get SUSE on there ans see what that's like. So I guess you guys are going to have to put up with yet another person starting off with "So, I'm new to this whole Linux thing...."

Thanks for all the help to date - much appreciated.

[sayonara]

For us it is a simple thing from Red Hat we get beta version of enterprise edition software that has full functionality for free.

Is it really that simple??? I'm reasonably new to Linux and I'm still trying to find a distro to stick with. I quite Like Fedora but it's causing me a few niggling little problems. While I like the fact that Fedora is free (really like this fact), not to mention the extensive help available online, it does give a slight feeling of insecurity compared to a supported, paid-for distro like SUSE or RH Enterprise. I know that Fedore is a test bed for RHEL but are we actually getting a beta version of a stable, comprehensive OS or a linux distro that will never be 100% reliable due to its constant beta status? Just to quote the Redhat Fedora site (http://www.redhat.com/fedora/), thay describe Fedora as "A proving ground for new technology that may eventually make its way into Red Hat products." [/I]

Just to illustrate this, I have noticed a lot of people posting about problems that they encountered after installing FC2 witch they didn't have in FC1. If it's a case that upgrading to a new release has an equal chance of causing problems with previously reliable features as fixing previous problems, then as a new user I would have my reservations about settling on Fedora.

That said, I'm not geting rid of it yet! My next step is going to be cleaning up a bit more HD space to get SUSE on there ans see what that's like. So I guess you guys are going to have to put up with yet another person starting off with "So, I'm new to this whole Linux thing...."

Thanks for all the help to date - much appreciated.