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OpenSUSE 11.0 Released

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the download-compile-reboot-repeat dept.

Nate D writes "It's here: a new major release of Novell's community-supported distro is now available, and can be downloaded from the mirrors. Linux Format has a hands-on look at the new installer, SLAB menu and Compiz Fusion, and weighs up whether the distro can fight competition from Ubuntu and Fedora. Is this the start of a new era for SUSE?"

4 of 301 comments (clear)

  1. Probably not by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is this the start of a new era for SUSE?"
    Probably not. Competition between major distros doesn't really exist, because all features are available for all distros. Neither Ubuntu, nor Fedora nor SuSE specialize in anything in particular, so in the end, there's not much difference between them aside from package management and menu layout.

    --
    My blog
    1. Re:Probably not by allcar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Don't underestimate package management - it is critical. It is the main differentiator between distros and it is the key to Ubuntu's current success. It's also one of the main reasons that Linux is so much more stable than Windows.

  2. Re:Justin by catscan2000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    At the risk of being labeled a troll, I typically tell colleagues who ask about the Microsoft deal that Apple has numerous patent and other technology licensing agreements with Microsoft, and yet we don't see a groundswell of people on Slashdot calling Apple on the carpet for their Microsoft agreements.

    In response, I've heard that the difference is that Apple doesn't pretend to be fully open-source whereas Novell does to an extent, though Apple does have an open-source kernel and other bits in addition to a proprietary system. Similarly, Novell's SuSE (not openSuSE) is a product that users typically need to pay for. From a high-level view, this looks like both companies offer a proprietary system as well as an open-source subset of that proprietary system.

    As a result -- at least, from that simplification of the issue -- I think that anti-SuSE people on Slashdot are treating Novell unfairly versus Apple. I'm not a fan of the Microsoft deal, either, but I do like openSuSE on technical and, especially, usability grounds, and that is why I both advocate for and use it both at home and at work.

    Now I'm off to download the latest version :-)

    (there goes my karma, though :-(. Please be nice!)

  3. Re:New Era? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple made a big stink about patents a number of years ago wrt spring-loaded folders in the Nautilus file manager.

    Apple has also purposely broken the iPod database so that Free Software iPod software broke after the update.

    Apple also have a similar deal with Microsoft as Novell has.

    I know, I know... "Apple shiny. Me like shiny" makes it all better, right? Whatever.