'Sneak Preview' of SUSE 9.1

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Posted by michael on Friday April 2, 2004 @06:59AM from the better-than-okra dept.

Roblimo writes "SUSE 9.1 won't be out until May, but Joe Barr got access to a 'secret' beta download and tried it out. He liked some of what he saw, and found things he didn't like, too, but is willing to overlook some of the negatives because, he points out, 'This is a beta. Bugs are expected. Work will be done before it goes gold.' The review's at Linux.com." Linux.com and Slashdot are both part of OSDN.

9 of 190 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

"Dumbing" Down? by sirmikester · 2004-04-02 07:05 · Score: 4, Insightful

The next least favorite thing for me was the dumbing down of menus to a single choice of application, especially when I found myself disagreeing with the choice in almost every instance.

I don't think a new user of a linux system would mind having some simple defaults to choose for. Since SUSE is aiming to please more than just hard core linux enthusiasts, I think that having a single choice is important.

--
In linux libertas
1. Re:"Dumbing" Down? by rjstanford · 2004-04-02 07:29 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  For instance the first time you log in, a script could ask if you'd like to change what programs you use for chat/E-mail/Web Browsing/etc.
  
  Considering that this edition is aimed at least partially at first-time users... how do you expect them to know?
  
  Computer: "Do you want to use Firefox or Galeon?"
  User: WTF? This is weird... I just want to get the internet...
  
  After all, its not as if they can't add other software in the future. Its like the classic Microsoft Help question, "This is the first time you've used help. What sort of database do you want me to build?" Meaningless and intrusive. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and giving unnecessary choices to the user is not the impression you want to make.
  
  Remember, most people don't want to "use the computer." They just want to "get the TV listings," or "write a letter." Huge mindset difference.
  
  --
  You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
2. Re:"Dumbing" Down? by Maestro4k · 2004-04-02 07:59 · Score: 4, Insightful
  Considering that this edition is aimed at least partially at first-time users... how do you expect them to know?
  Computer: "Do you want to use Firefox or Galeon?"
  User: WTF? This is weird... I just want to get the internet...
  
  Perhaps I didn't make myself clear, I agree that a question like that would confuse the hell out of newbies. What I had in mind was a question like:
  Computer: "Would you like to choose a different program to browse the web with, or will the default be ok?"
  except more of a single question that when you answered yes would take you to something to chose. If you said no, it'd just go away and that'd be that. Given that type of choice, most newbies would just accept the defaults, but power users could go in and tinker to their heart's content.
Yeah... by bonch · 2004-04-02 07:19 · Score: 5, Insightful

...heaven forbid someone complain about something non-techies consider important, like poor anti-aliasing, the inability to compile packages, and the usability of GRUB and LILO.

I read a review once where Eugenia complained about the spacing between menus. Yes, believe it or not, those are things that graphics designers would care about because it has to do with subtle factors in user interaction.

But, go ahead and stick to the reviews that are techie-only if you wanna.
Re:Can we have some too? by PepsiProgrammer · 2004-04-02 07:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

I doubt it will be much different than suse 9.0 with the 2.6.4 kernel and a few updated packages.

Im currently running SUSE 9.0 with the suse 2.6.4 kernel, and Ximian Desktop Unstable (Gnome 2.6 :)) and its a pretty sweet desktop combination, unfortunately SUSE 9.0 doesnt handle wireless that well, and some hotplugging functionality got lost when I upgraded it to 2.6.4.

Here's looking forward to 9.1

--
"The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else." - Bush 05
This review.. by jvagner · 2004-04-02 07:23 · Score: 3, Insightful

..doesn't bother to explicate what makes SUSE any different from any other distro. Why not Fedora, or Mandrake? What makes SUSE, well, SUSE?

He never says.
SuSE is commerical - and that's good. by DR+SoB · 2004-04-02 07:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

The Linux community _needs_ a vendor that is commerical based, it helps spread the word. I recently attended SHARE in L.A. and the only Linux retailer there was SuSE.

SHARE is mostly a mainframe conference but since z/OS (and s/390) now supports omvs (Unix System Services) it makes sense to start pushing more Linux.

I can recommend SuSE to some of my less technical friends and they will see that it's easy, and has good commerical support.

--
Mod +5 Drunk
What a Rant by adler187 · 2004-04-02 07:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

I really didnt like this review. He complained that the menus were too simple. I have used SUSE since 8.0 and am currently running 9. As far as the menu's go in 9, if you only have 1 app of a certain type, it defaults to renaming that app to whatever type it is. For example, in a default install you will only have Konquerer for a browser, so when you go to Internet->Web Browser, it will launch Konq. Now if you have Mozilla installed too, Web Brower will become a sub menu containing both Konq and Mozilla.

One way to get around the small font in the install he complained about was to change the resolution. Before you hit enter at the install bootloader, hit F3 (i think) and it will give you a list of resolutions to use. The menu is located at the bottom of the bootloader. He also complained that it didnt come with the stuff he wanted. Well cry me a river because you are a little more advanced than their target audience and are too lazy to install and configure the apps to your liking.

Also, in YAST there is an autocheck dependencies which should automatically resolve all dependencies when installing things, so he shouldn't have had to figure out what was not making his GNOME install. Maybe it is disabled for some reason in the beta, or maybe he didn't see the checkbox down there?

Maybe he should complain less and use the system more.
Lame Lame Lame by brunes69 · 2004-04-02 10:24 · Score: 4, Insightful

Disclaimer: I have viewed this Joe Barr guy as a complete lamer ever since his huge rant against MPlayer for not supporting his buggy GCC
This is a really really lame review. The whole thing can be summed up in about three lines:
"I installed SuSE Linux. The install went great, but I don't like KDE and none of my Gnome apps were installed off the bat, and I couldn't install them properly because I don't know how to work YaST, so it sucks. Hopefully this will be corrected when it goes gold".
Basically, he installs it, and is upset to find out that all the default apps are KDE apps. Well hello, SuSE has *always* been a KDE distro. And guess what, that is the exact same way *I* feel eevry time I am forced to install RedHat, and I have to use all Gnome apps.
If you want a Gnome-centric distro, why are you using SuSE at all?Another waste of everyone's time by Mr. Barr.