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More SUSE Linux 9.1 Reviews
JoshuaTreeCA writes "Adam Doxtater of Mad Penguin has published another excellent review... this time on the newest SUSE Linux 9.1 beta-release. This release comes complete with the latest GNOME and KDE enviroments as well as being the first distro to present a retail package built on kernel 2.6.4 Check out the review, with screenshots."
rokzy also wrote in with another review from NeoLink Computers.
Here ya go
wow. 8 comments and its already slashdotted.... remind me not to use SuSe 9.1 as my server
I just installed SuSE 9 and I must say I was very impressed... right up until the point that the mouse (which worked fine during install) didn't work on the second boot, then wouldn't work when KDE started. Had to start YaST to reconfigure it but had to reboot before it would work. THEN the mouse just stopped working after I clicked the apply button after choosing the icq2 icon scheme in gnomeicu.
I'm guessing USB mouse support still hasn't made it's way into Linux in a robust form yet?
This is pretty bad - so bad, in fact, that I'm now back in Windows XP because it, at least, knows how to understand what is now an old thing like USB mice!
A few days ago I installed suse on a blank hard drive to find an alternative to debian for my desktop. I was impressed by the hardware detection, but yast was slow! It took forever to pull up. I tried mandrake to, I wasnt impressed at all. Is yast slow for everybody, or just me?
Here is the basic jist of things:
GUI looks good.
Some things work, some don't.
Pretty desktops.
Looks faster then the previous version.
Screenshoots of the desktop provided.
I did not like this bit or that.
But at the end of the day it worked for me.
If you're shit with computers, stick with..oh never mind.
More pretty desktops.
Wait for the next version.
Some bugs, but overall germ free.
I give it a rating of **** out of *
Now who do I talk to about my pay cheque for doing this.
driver integration for ATI like with nVidia. ATI has had linux drivers for a while now and I think not providing proper card support is one of the major show-stoppers for people trying linux.
since the drivers are proprietary there are "issues", but with nvidia SUSE YOU provides a automatic download link. I want one for ATI!
This article's been up for over quarter of an hour now and... where's the KDE v Gnome flamewar? Did everyone suddenly grow up or something? You guys are no fun any more :(
One thing I REALLy want from a computer is for it to be extremely responsive in whatever it is I'm doing. In other words, the "top" applcation that I'm working in (or switching to) should always get top priority; I don't want to wait for the machine.
The other day, a friend directly connected his G3 iBook to my 1.4Ghz P-M laptop over 100mbit ethernet. As he copied large files from me, my computer bogged down and was unusable. Just switching windows to something already open was painful to watch. His iBook, though, just hummed along - he could switch to other apps and use them just fine. Very frustrating.
So....would the Linux kernel 2.6.x be extremely responsivle to user input, no matter what else is going on?
At work we're considering buying a new (low end) Dell server which uses S-ATA hard drives. It's supposed to house a SuSE Linux system in the future. However, I'm not sure how well Linux in general, and SuSE in particular works with Serial-ATA drives, especially when there's nothing but Serial-ATA available - ie. the installer would need to work with it, as well.
The best resource I found was this page, but it doesn't help me a lot, either. The server would be a Dell Poweredge 750 running the Intel 7210 chipset, which supports S-ATA.
The system which the new server should replace is currently running SuSE Pro 8.1, which I am fairly certain does not support S-ATA - but does SuSE 9.x?
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
SuSE 9.1 beta does not come with the latest Gnome (2.6) it comes with Gnome 2.4 because 2.6 was released too late to make it into SuSE 9.1 beta. However, Gnome 2.6 will likely be available from SuSE as a separate download.
Don't you remember Joe Barr's pathetic whining about Gnome and SuSE 9.1 beta in his Quick Look article. Possibly the worst review ever written.
The problem is not where, but when. The FTP version usually goes "public" after a month or so of the official release, and I suppose that the betas are only released to selected testers.
I believe it must be released to testers under the GPL. So I would expect a copy to be available somewhere.
The 9.1 beta is a special release that was opened up to members of the press. It is on a restricted access server. SuSE typically does not make its betas available for download like Red Hat use to with Rawhide. Additionally, SuSE typically releases new versions in boxed sets first and then makes it available by ftp about a month later.
You will probably not be able to get a hold of 9.1 until the first week in May, when you can buy the boxed set. Early June will probably be your first chance to download SuSE 9.1
If you mean running linux inside of linux, yes. At least SUSE 9.0 comes with all the necessary UML patches so you can play with the box inside of the box. Read this
Yeah, but in Soviet Russia YOU install YaST Online Update!
the layman's guide to computer science
Which means that they have to release the sources to the testers, nobody else. What they likely do, if they send them a CD/DVD.
I've been writing reviews of various distros in my journal. I hope to have my Mandrake review up in a day or two. So far, both Fedora and Mandrake have been disappointing. I do have high hopes for SUSE, however. The Java Desktop System demo CD I have is based on SUSE. None of the problems I regularly have with other distros have shown up with that CD. Here's hoping. :-)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Also, once you've rebooted and are in your Window manager (either Gnome or KDE), do't use YaST2 to set up your mouse - use SaX2. From there you can choose all your input devices.
If you purchased your copy of SUSE you should have also received two really good manuals, one for administration, the other for users. All of this information is covered in them.
65 comments and the site folds..
Well, nevertheless..
I for one will be buying 9.1 professional.
I use 9.0 pro now and am very happy with it.
I tried bringing it up with the 2.6 kernel and KDE 3.2 but wasn't happy with that. Things didn't integrate well so I backed it down to a stock 9.0 package and all is well.
Having them integrate all the goodies ensures that everything will work as expected and I'm more than happy to wait (what else can you do?) for 9.1
I'll be traveling over to Fry's to pick up my package of 9.1 Pro when it hits the shelf.
I want the DVD and CD's and books and support. And I don't mind at all paying for it because in my 27 years of working with/on computers, Suse is the BEST operating system package I have used. Everything else is just second rate and inferior.
Don't know if it does this on NT-based Win OSes, since I haven't used a floppy in a while, but I doubt it.
Maybe slashdot should update the SUSE topic icon.
It looks like the lizard has been put on a diet (suse.com).
Oh, and two of his legs have been chopped off...
As a note, SuSE, despite their marketing claims, is not the first distribution to go to market with a commercial 2.6 kernel. This Beta is for a product that will offer the 2.6 kernel, however Gentoo is already selling Gentoo 2004.0, and Mandrake is selling copies of Mandrake 10 Community on DVD.
I don't know how SuSE defines "commercial" or "first", but if other distros are selling copies before SuSE even has released 9.1, then I'd have to say their marketing campaign needs to be revised ;)
perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
You can buy SuSE Update for $49.95. It the same as Suse Pro but without the manuals.
"It wasn't me, I didn't do it, I don't post, the bite marks still haven't healed from last time." Ryan/jrc
I think that if Novell bought out some small PC manufacturer, threw this version of SUSE on it, and sold it, Linux would evolve a lot faster than anyone would think.
The only thing Linux really needs now is ATI drivers, easy-configurable WineX-style software, and smart users. I guess we maybe can get 2/3 of those in the future though...
All in all though, I'm looking forward to getting this as soon as it comes out -- I'm actually going to buy the commercial version! I just wish it had more support for GNOME... but at least it HAS it!
"Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
I just finish testing 9.1. I was accepted as a beta tester starting with 8.0. Overall I was personally very pleased with SuSE's (excuse me - SUSE) latest efforts.
What surpised me the most was the stability of Beta 1. Try as I might I, and others, didn't bump into to anything kludgey to file a bug report. Others did, but the amount of bug reps filed were far less than I and others expected. In Beta 4 I did find but one in KDE and OO.o dealing with Styles and Windows Decorations. I filed my bug rep with the backtrace. Well about 2 days later the dev asked me to confirm what he suspected was the problem and sure enough it was patched/fixed - move along nothing to see here.
My test system is really mundane. A simple celery 800 on an older MSI board, on-board sound, and 133MHz memory. By most standards... Well old. What also delighted me to no end was the speed and robustness of the system. To put it plainly it was snappy and quick. 2.6 should be (what am I saying? IS) a great boost to Linux overall.
YaST has gotten a face lift, more over nice eye candy. KDE 3.2 is very nice, Gnome is working much better than it ever has on a SuSE distro. I guess having Ximian and Novell for support pays off. Installation was very nice as should be expected. I know I probably sound like a "fanboy", and to a point I am. But in all honesty SuSE has continued to make my desktop system very comfortable and a joy to use and learn.
The real nice thing is that it is by all accounts fairly enterprise ready by and large. I look forward to 9.2. It just keeps getting better. And Novell to date hasn't had any negative impact on it's development AFAICT. If anything I suspect that SuSE will get more support.
As far as X is concerned it uses the latest pre-release before XFree86 implemented its ever popular "advertising" clause. Discussions related to X.org implementation is that it's being seriously investigated as a replacement, providing that the XFree86 keeps it's present license - X.org's version 6.7.0 or later appears to be the likely candidate for 9.2, as other Linux distro's are likely to adopt this as well IMHO.