Novell to Release New Linux Distribution

Fri Jul 14, 2006 5:48 PM EDT
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SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop/Server 10 Final Releasednovell.comMon Jul 170Comments
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{"commentId":206313,"authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
Adam Kemp

That's SuSE Enterprise Linux. SuSE Linux is at 10.1 right now.

{"commentId":206313,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#1 - Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:17 PM EDT
{"commentId":206642,"authorDomain":"fort"}
the_leander

10.2 Alpha2 was released a few days ago.

I just hope that they pull their fingers out and get the package management issues sorted once and for all with this release. Yast is ok but slow, but what they replaced it with (Zen) is utter cow patties.

{"commentId":206642,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"fort"}
    Reply#2 - Sat Jul 15, 2006 6:05 AM EDT
    {"commentId":207154,"authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
    Adam Kemp

    I've been bitten by "RPM Hell" too many times to respect any rpm-based distribution system. Even now, using SuSE 10 at work, I have install things sometimes that just aren't part of their distribution. As a result, I have two choices: find an unofficial RPM (either 3rd-party made for SuSE, or try to use one from another distribution), or install from source. If I choose to find another RPM then I have dependency hell. Package X wants package Y version 3.2.3-5, whereas I have version 3.2.3-4. I can force install, but can I trust it? Maybe.

    If I choose source, though, inevitably I won't have the right devel packages installed (for the headers), and I have to hunt those down, hope that they're in the distribution (sometimes they're not), and then install them.

    This happens whenever I want to install a package that is not in the distribution, or if I want to upgrade to a newer version of a package that I already have installed. I end up spending countless hours resolving stupid dependency issues. After going through this for several years, I finally understood why a ports-like system (like FreeBSD or Gentoo) is better. They have their problems (Gentoo is anything but easy to use, and sometimes you have to fight with it to get it configured just right), but dependency problems are almost nonexistent.

    {"commentId":207154,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
      #2.1 - Sat Jul 15, 2006 4:26 PM EDT
      {"commentId":207269,"authorDomain":"fort"}
      the_leander

      From what I've seen, Smart is perfectly capable of dealing with dependency issues.

      I have had dependency issues regardless of the package management system on linux, you just have to play too much and grab a few too many bad packages. With Yast and especially with ZEN, you just hit that barrier far quicker.

      {"commentId":207269,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"fort"}
        #2.2 - Sat Jul 15, 2006 6:33 PM EDT
        {"commentId":207296,"authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
        Adam Kemp

        I had never heard of Smart. I'll have to check it out sometime.

        {"commentId":207296,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
        • 1 vote
        #2.3 - Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:08 PM EDT
        {"commentId":214060,"authorDomain":"benno"}
        Benno Hansen

        Guys...

        A couple of MS Windows people curious as to what this version 10 of some Linux distribution with the reputable name of Novell attatched to it is about will read this article. Your weird comments will scare these semi-geeks off, I'm afraid.

        The facts are that compared to Windows SuSE is easier to install and as easy to use for most people but better for power users and others that grow accustomed to it.

        The RPM worries are tricky if you insist on having something special to work out for you and you don't trust whatever 3rd party source you have. But what about looking at the same problem at a Windows machine? It will install nearly anything regardless of dependencies. What you experience is abrupt crashes of programs and OS later, not detailed yet decipherable messages at install. Which is worse?

        Besides, in half a year we're going to have Windows people babble about "instant search", "Aero", "Widgets" and what have you. Today, all of that and much more is available for free in Linux. Probably better than Bill will ever get it. Linux rules and people should get that impression, not get scared off.

        {"commentId":214060,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"benno"}
          #2.4 - Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:13 PM EDT
          {"commentId":214274,"authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
          Adam Kemp

          Windows solved most of their "DLL Hell" problems somewhere around Windows XP. I very rarely have any dependency problems with Windows.

          Don't get me wrong. I like Linux much better than Windows. I don't even have Windows at home. I still think installation of 3rd-party (outside the distribution) packages is far easier in Windows than Linux in most cases. Installation of packages that are IN the distribution are far easier on distributions like SuSE and Mandriva than Windows.

          When people ask me for my opinion about whether they should use Linux, I always ask them "are you going to want to install things a lot?" If they like to find random software online and install it, I suggest they stick with Windows. It's just not easy for a new user to figure out "Which of these files do I download? What the hell is a .tar.gz file, and what do I do with it??"

          {"commentId":214274,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"adamkemp"}
          • 2 votes
          #2.5 - Thu Jul 20, 2006 2:07 PM EDT
          {"commentId":255013,"authorDomain":"jtmoulia"}
          jtmoulia

          I gotta say, I tried out suse, and I was not impressed. I was installing it over gentoo - I had bitten off too much trying to get that set up right - but I found that post installation gentoo was less buggy than suse, though not as set up out of the box. If you want a new user to come on in and enjoy linux, go for ubuntu. Yes, it's reached fad/cult proportions, but there's a reason for that. The other great thing about it is if a new user has a problem, then I'm sure there's a post on the internet on exactly how to fix it because of the enormous community.

          This is just my personal experience with suse, as I'm every other person will have had a different reaction.

          {"commentId":255013,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"jtmoulia"}
            #2.6 - Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:48 PM EDT
            {"commentId":256017,"authorDomain":"benno"}
            Benno Hansen

            Which versions? SuSE is 10.1 now. I don't see any obvious bugs.

            {"commentId":256017,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"benno"}
              #2.7 - Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:40 AM EDT
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              {"commentId":206991,"authorDomain":"mateoutah"}
              mateoutah

              Yeah I wound up switching to the Smart Package Manager because Zen crashes every time and I didn't care to fix it. But I'm suprised that it took Novell that long to come out with the enterprise edition. Hopefully it fixes some things.

              {"commentId":206991,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"mateoutah"}
                Reply#3 - Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:10 PM EDT
                {"commentId":207020,"authorDomain":"fort"}
                the_leander

                SmartPM does seem to be the way to go, I'm surprised that Novell haven't just dropped Zen altogether (because it has NEVER worked propperly) and bring Smart up to Synaptic's standards.

                {"commentId":207020,"threadId":"24709","contentId":"288284","authorDomain":"fort"}
                  Reply#4 - Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:31 PM EDT
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