Q I am running OpenSUSE 10.2, but the OS doesn't go too well with the Asus P5KPL motherboard of my new machine. Which Linux distros get on best with it and will in be able to use Planner on it, too?
A Mainstream manufacturers like Asus are generally well supported, because of the large number of people using them. However, it can take time for support for new hardware to make it into the kernel, and then for a distro to release a version with that kernel. Most distros release twice a year, and with the testing cycle that precedes release it can be nine months before new hardware is supported in your latest distro's release. The Asus P5KPL contains nothing particularly esoteric, so it should be supported by most current distros.
The key word here is current: OpenSUSE 10.2 was released in December 2006, so support for anything less than 18 months old is likely to be problematic. Installing any more recent distro is likely to solve all your hardware compatibility problems. Some distros have a hardware compatibility section on their website, where you can check before downloading and installing. For example, OpenSUSE has one at http://en.opensuse.org/HCL and Mandriva's is at www.mandriva.com/hardware. Many distros provide Live CD versions, which are a good way of making sure everything works before installation. Planner should work with any distro that includes the Gnome libraries. It is included in the OpenSUSE repositories, so you can install it from Yast in the usual way.