If I'm going to replace Gentoo on my main machine, a distribution is going to have to be easy to install, with all the features I've come to expect from Gentoo. Generating the procedures and final comparison chart was a somewhat grueling process, as I installed and configured each distribution at least 4 times. However, I think it was worth it, as I believe I've found a worthy replacement for my Gentoo box.

Before I conclude, let me say a few words in summary about each distribution ...

Kubuntu:

My first test of Ubuntu was a fairly disappointing experience. However, I think it was because EasyUbuntu didn't set things up the way I expected. Although the final procedure ended up with taking a little more time, the results are outstanding. Many thanks to the maintainers of the Ubuntu Dapper Wiki for creating such an easy to use guide.

openSUSE:

In the beginning, it looked like openSUSE was going to be the winner by a wide margin (before I figured out what I was doing wrong in Ubuntu). Unfortunately, in the middle of my testing, the Packman repository upgraded to an unstable version of the mplayer plugin, and nearly half the multimedia tests suddenly stopped working. Since there was no way to downgrade to a working version, openSUSE failed a lot of those tests. If it weren't for that, openSUSE and Kubuntu would be neck-in-neck for the lead. (I would likely still prefer Kubuntu a little bit, since it has a more unified repository-based package system.)

Fedora Core:

This was the most disappointing distribution of the three tested. Having to manually download and install key items like Flash & Java makes Fedora actually harder to use than Gentoo in some respects. Definitely not a contender to replace my Gentoo setup.

Conclusion:

Although openSUSE held an early lead, Kubuntu comes out as the overall winner here. A look at the results table shows that it is the only one that at least partially passes all tests. openSUSE and Fedora were both hit-and-miss, though one or the other might suit your tastes just fine, depending on your needs.

So, looks like I'm off to make a few backups of my current system and install Kubuntu. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to change distributions ... this year.