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SuSE gets Mainstream Sales Distribution
An anonymous reader wrote in to tell us about a new
expanded distribution
for the SuSE distribution- it will now appear in places like
CompUSA, Fry's, Microcenter, Waldenbooks, Borders, and Best
Buy. Always nice to see those shrink wrapped boxes up on the
shelves.
That's strange. The MicroCenter near me (Cambridge, MA) has been putting Linux in a very nicely located area labelled "Operating Systems". Last time I went in Linux had an area about 4-5 ft . wide from the top to the bottom of the shelf. All the distros plus Applixware, Cygnus products, in fact just about all the shrinkwrapped Linux items I'm aware of.
Now there is a large stack of SuSE 6.1 back by the Playboy CDs, but they commonly use that area for overstock. I wouldn't be offended at all that they ordered 50-100 units.
BTW, next to the Linux display are 3-4 dust covered NT 4 boxes. I rarely see anyone pick one up and look at it.
Actually, folks Borders has been online for a while now (BORDERS.COM) and is really starting to annoy Amazon.com because of better selection and in many cases lower prices. As for getting Debian in the store, give me some time, I'll start asking around a see what can be done.
SuSE has been carried by Borders & Microcenter in Atlanta for at least 6 months...
I just went to Borders and tried to order a Red Hat 6.0 manual. The salesdroid claimed that Red Hat had some kind of new distribution arrangement and they would no longer be getting in new shipments from Red Hat.
>The thought of a proprietized Linux-based OS
>really scares me.
It doesn't scare me. The good thing about Linux, from my perspective, is that it lets me run Unix at home for a price that I can afford. Whether it's proprietary or not doesn't matter much to me.
Jonathan Gennick -- not really an anonymous coward
That is not entirely true but if you perfer not to deal with 'salesdroids' then try the website. (BORDERS.COM) You may actually get a better price than getting it in the store. (less overhead means less cost to you)
Slackware and FreeBSD near the porn? It's my understanding that porn display space is highly sought after by distributors, but Pat Volkderding may be in over his head here. That space is also controlled by organized crime. So, Pat may be getting some anonymous email telling him to keep off the turf, unless he is willing to pay his dues.
Red Hat $79 retail? Come on. What's Windows 98 now, $89? Looks like price-gouging of a captive market to me. Where is the DOJ?
Maybe if competing Linux distros can really get shelf space consumers will vote with their wallets and take RedHat down a notch or two. I think RedHat is really more interested in socking it to corporate customers which it regards to be locked in, and doesn't care much about retail store sales, but it comes across to people who walk into Best Buy and see the sticker as a little too much like MS.
It's very encouraging to see that retailers really are carrying Linux. Really, Linux software should not all be in its own section, except perhaps for the distros, but mixed in with other (read Windows) software, so that casual browsers may be more likely to notice that Linux versions of some popular titles (especially games) are also available.
Maybe, indirectly, competition between Linux distros in retail chains will lead to more variety in the software these stores offer generally. I plan to make my next purchase of a Linux distro in a store, even if the price is a little higher, because that gets noticed whereas downloading from the net or ordering the cheap CD's doesn't always get counted as a sale.
With that attitude, you'll loose even that. You have a good, affordable Unix you can run at home because of the free software ideals. If SuSE becomes standard, they will started "enhancing" the OS in more and more proprietary ways, and if 5 years from now, they kill the freely downloadable version, you'll be stuck either using a dated, unmaintained OS, or paying big bucks.
"The employees at my local CompUSA were working a few months back to set up a whole GNU/Linux section, ..."
Your interpretation, I'm sure. Last time I visited CompUSA they were calling it Linux.
Debian has somewhere around 2000 packages (is it 3000 now?) and I believe RedHat has nearly as many.
A full install of Red Hat 6 has about 450 packages.
Microcenter has a shrink wrapped version of Slackware already.
What's the plan here? Do we moderate down anything that's not posted in english?
RedHat 6.0 shipped with a Diamond A50 X setup that was broken. Its right there in the list but it doesn't work! Does SuSe 6.1 correctly support the Diamond A50?
Slackware? Download it. Or order it from Cheapbytes for $1.99. Why would anybody pay for a boxed set of Slackware? I still feel it's the best distro (for me anyways) but don't see the sense in paying much for it.
I have to laugh at a lot of the 'boxed set' Linux stuff at the stores. People don't seem to realize they can download it as they need it themselves off the Net.
I bought a British computer magazine yesterday at Shinders that had Wordperfect 8 Personal edition on a CD taped to the front cover. I've seen the boxed set for like $60 at BestBuy. I guess the pretty pictures on the cover are important for somebody....
(and no, don't tell me I should buy the boxed sets to encourage commercial distribution. I've done that a few times, but as far as I can tell all it convinces the retailers of thus far is that they can sell stuff they get for free off the Net for big bucks to the rubes. Besides, we're supposed to get all huffy and upright about anything that's not GPLed, aren't we?)
Try to install any software source you want and
...
you will see, that SuSE is NOT 7of9 err 9of10.
Those guys put their packages to the MOST unusual
places in your dir-tree, especially certain libs.
You will go crazy if you want to compile GNOME
yourself to add more features or update it. Same
with Apache and any other source you can think of.
And YAST is just another acronym for 'Yet Another
Shitty Tool'
How do you know that?
My biggest complaint is that it seems to be slower. Probably trying to do too much in the background. I always have (at least) two different distros setup at one time, and the difference between SuSE and RH was pretty noticeable.
:)
I've run into the same hassles with things in different places too.
I fixed this by copying libs & headers & such from the SuSE side so that stuff developed under SuSE (some of the smaller kde apps for example) wouldn't hairball on me in RH. BTW, it worked great
I didn't have a problem with Yast, you can disable it if you don't like it...
I'll wait until it shows up on LinuxMall and give it another try.
I need another distro for the Caldera partition anyways. Caldera makes it too hard to get the training wheels off, it's *great* for a newbies though.
John Waalkes
jwaalkes@edge.net
Red Hat is free. Everything they write, they release under the GPL. They won't include non-free programs, even as basic as xv with their distribution. They have made their commitment to free software very clear.
SuSE is quite the opposite.
In terms of contributions, both have contributed a lot. Red Hat has contributed more, but they're bigger and have more resources (from XFree86 development, to hiring Alan Cox, rasterman, etc, to the other stuff they've done). SuSE hired the head of the ALSA project, etc. I respect both distribs for that.
However, I still refuse to use something as proprietary as SuSE.
You call it what you will, I'll call it what I will. Don't push your views on me, dumbass.
sorry, but a long time ago, there used to exist a evil empire that was a rival to the u.s. and they shared a city called berlin.
and the people in the part of the city that was the one of the u.s. were on the side of this great nation and when the evil empire decided to cut berlin off the international connections the inhabitants of west-berlin (what else should they do) resisted the bad.
and so an american president visited berlin and told the world that anyone anywhere in the world should do as the people of west-berlin did and fight against the evil empire.
and he did it with the words: ich (i) am (bin) a (ein) berliner
First, I agree with J4, Redhat uses silly locations, too.
/etc, well, create symlinks!
Second, if you're trying to mix your own compiled software with the stuff provided with SuSE and run into problems, you're just getting what you asked for.
It's bad practice. Better use your own separate tree for everything non-SuSE, manage all the SuSE stuff with SuSE's package management,
and your own stuff using your own method. Here and there, some tools will need files in places like
All I had to do to port my howngrown software additions from Redhat to SuSE was remount the tree on the new SuSE installation and add the symlinks back.
(Not that everything worked, but at least I didn't upset SuSE's package management.)
Third, having upgraded from Redhat 4.2, I must say I'm really impressed.
It has a plethora of tools, and best of all, at least different window managers / desktop environments and they all work! For many of them, SuSE even updates menu items when packages are added/deleted. By changing a single line in ~/.xinitrc, I can even change window managers while the session is running.
I haven't used Redhat 5 or 6 so I can't compare to them,
:-(
but I agree with you on yast and Sax. With Sax, I finally managed to set my resolution to the 2000x1500 I knew my monitor was capable of.
Another strong point is the manual. This is a manual that helps me (a long time Linux user but no expert) set up my system.
SuSE are apparently doing some aggressive marketing; our local bookshop
offers free SuSE trial CDs with a useful leaflet. Maybe not enough for beginners, but certainly enough for Redhat users who want to try an alternative.
The only gripe: my backspace is broken. What else is new.
If you want to get your Linux software into retail talk to the guys at Navarre. Those guys are making a big push for Linux.
I ordered Suse 6.1 directly from suse's own web site weeks ago. Not only have I not received it,
but they have not answered 3 of my last requests for an update on shipping!
I wound up having to download it. I hate jerk companies that can't be bothered to answer their email.
Technically I love their Distro. but they definitely need to pick up some clues about dealing directly with customers!
uh... while i love SuSE, and recommend it everywhere i go... i don't think you are ready for it if you think the manual is missing something. have you taken a look at red hat's manual?
no matter how friendly a distro is, you gotta be ready before anything.
hi SuSE folks,
:) does that mean we have to download SO5 and WP8 and other stuffs seperately? or are they all included if i get them from SuSE's ftp server?
I am installing SuSE 6.1 on my cusin's machine, and i wonder how to burn the CDs. (iso? ) Also, if we download it from the net (i2 here
any info is appreciated, thanks,
I went down to the local CompUSA last night and WOW! After years of hearing "No, we don't sell Linux. Try store xxx." I go in, head up to the OS section, and see RedHat 6.0, SuSE 6.1, WordPerfect for Linux, CodeWarrior, Linux Power Tools, and a few other products. There were RedHat boxes placed all over the computer displays, tucked in between towers, lying on tables. It was great.
And I got to see that Sony Vaio Microtower. SWEET!
Likewise here in Dallas. Red Hat (and all the Power Deluxe Extra Gold versions), Caldera, and SuSE have been regular shelf denizens in my local Borders' reasonably well-stocked Linux section for quite some time now (at least a year, in Red Hat and Caldera's cases). So has Applixware. Debian (2.0) and FreeBSD have been sighted from time to time as well. They occasionally put Red Hat on their 20% off monthly rotation, too, especially when a new release is imminent.
Now, if we could only get them to convert their in-store computer systems...and maybe make a terminal publicly accessible so you don't have to try to track down a bored college student to do a simple do-you-have-this-in-stock search for you.
CaptainTylor (who has not yet remembered to bring his password in to work)
P.S. This is the Borders on Lovers Lane and Greenville Ave. that I'm talking about, if any Dallasites are curious.
P.P.S. Oh, and Borders is online already.
Did SuSE set up all these relationships with the retailers itself? Or did it go through some kind of retail software distributor who gets it into all the stores? If so, who?
The employees at my local CompUSA were working a few months back to set up a whole GNU/Linux section, with just about everything a Linux user could want from life. Should check up to see if it's up yet.
Anyways, the SuSE thing is probably overall okay news, but we should still remember that SuSE is quite proprietary. Unlike Red Hat, their enhancements and extra utilities (Yast, etc.) are not released as free software and remain proprietary. Inspite of any advantages it may or may not have, I'll stick with fully free distributions like Red Hat and Debian. The thought of a proprietized Linux-based OS really scares me.
It's placed with the garbage software because it has about the same advertising budget as the garbage software. Shelf position is bought, not given.
... even if you know already perfectly well
where it is shelved. If the 100st person comes
and ask the same question, maybe they will wisen
up, and shelv it at a more prominent place.
At least the Borders around me (Albany, NY) has a great Linux selection. They carry the shrinkedwrapped versions of RedHat, Slackware, OpenLinux, SuSE and Applix. Good array of books too, including the FSF books (Emacs Manual, GCC, etc.). For those without a Borders nearby, I hear they're going online soon too.
----
Open mind, insert foot.
If all you are looking for is the stuff on the CD, downloading or cheapbytes are fine, but the boxed sets have their place. First off, you get a book, figure that's worth a good $20-$40. Secondly, some of the companies offer goodies or support services only available to those who purchase the box. Lastly, count about $5-$10 for saying "Thanks for the great distro, please stay in business so you can make more for me!".
----
Open mind, insert foot.
No, "Ich bin ein Berliner" does in fact mean "I am a citizen of Berlin". Whoever told you it means "I am a jelly donut" ist ein Dummkopf.
Its only unusual if you consider Redhat to be the "standard". I have yet to see 2 distros use the exact same layout. Mandrake/Redhat doesn't count....
Borders bookstore has Debian
Theres way more than 400 packages in SuSE. A full install is just over 4 gigs. Debian is great, but it's better if you have a T1.... I just checked, SuSE 6.0 has 1845 packages
Posted by Lord Kano-The Gangster Of Love:
>>Hmmm.... at the MicroCenter in Santa Clara, CA, Linux is displayed quite prominently. Slackware and FreeBSD may be near the porn. However, they're not in boxes, anyway. RedHat and SuSE have been sold in MC for a long time....
At the Best Buy near where I work the boxes for Redhat 5.2, 6.0 and Caldera distros are the first thing that you walk into when you enter the store.
I just need to find 3 friends to go in on RedHat 6.0 with me.
LK
Posted by Lord Kano-The Gangster Of Love:
I think that it can be a *GOOD* idea to put them near the porn. When I go to the local shows, or stores I always peer into the porn shelves to see what's nude er.. new. I say put a few copies of the distros there and see if they sell. If they do, keep it up, what does it hurt?
LK
I cancelled my subscription and picked up 6.1 at CompUSA for $30, which is $5 cheaper than the subscription price.
I never did get 6.0 working. I couldn't run Sax without crashing, and using XF86Setup produced a configuration that would hang X 5 minutes into a session. This was strange, considering COL 1.3 and RH 5.2 were working with the same hardware. I gave up after about 4 hours, but then I saw 6.1 for $30 and decided to take another run at it. :-)
TedC
>The thought of a proprietized Linux-based OS
>really scares me.
I certainly see the problems with *a* proprietized linux distribution. HOwever, I think the risks evaporate with *multiple* such distributios, especially free distribuions out there. As long as there are multiple distributions, and as long as thare is no task which *requires* proprietary software, I don't see a threat.
My most recent install, I simply choose EVERY PACKAGE which is over
400!
Not to knock on SuSE, I'm sure they're a wonderful distro for you, but if you think 400 packages is a lot you're sadly misinformed. Debian has somewhere around 2000 packages (is it 3000 now?) and I believe RedHat has nearly as many. Of course, this being Linux, if your distributor doesn't ship a program you can compile it yourself but it's still a lot easier to be able to do an automatic installation (or compile) of a program rather than manually fetching and compiling it...
Daniel
Hurry up and jump on the individualist bandwagon!
Not everyone that is a coder in Cambridge is
an MIT geek... The rest work for startups
spun off from some MIT project or another...
Wisp
*)
Hmm.. I'm going to have to head over there after work someday. I work over on Broadway in Cambridge. Not too bad of a walk over to Microcenter. It's been at least a year since I've been there.
I'd rather not see them and know they were there....
01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01010011 01001001 010
I had a somewhat similar experience with SuSE...
I had part of an SuSE order backordered (No. Calif office) and it was left unfilled until I finally called them about it over two months later. Appeared they had the stock, just lacked follow through. It was a big suprise to me, I expected they'd be shipping asap, since it was a completed sale and their payment was awaiting fulfillment.
I ended up cancelling the remaining order (except the t-shirt, which showed up in two days after the call).
While I wasn't impressed with the failure to follow through, I have been more than satisfied with the SuSE 5.3 product itself.
Being able to upgrade from a local retailer will be a good thing.
Linux doesn't get the shelf space because it's all bought up by Microsoft...
Most stores reserve most of their shelf space for producers who pay for that shelf space. The rest of the stuff, consignments, sales, whatever, get put where they can.
I won't be happy until linux apps also appear on retail shelves. (ok ok linux distros come with lots of stuff but the OS should be just the beginning)
---
Debian unstable (US and non-US main, contrib, and non-free) total to 3389 packages. Regardless of differences in what is packaged, I do think that Debian has a simply amazing selection of packages to choose from.
--
Ian Peters
I count 1355 distict binary rpms in the ftp-version (no crypto (those lamers have their server in the US) and some commercial stuff missing) of SuSE 6.1. SuSE packages are also rather big, while RedHat rpms tend to be fine-grained (both philosophies have their advantages and drawbacks).
If you really want to compare the amount of software, you better stick with the total size or the number of CDs. But after all, the only relevant benchmark is the number of programms you have to install manually either because they are not part of the distribution or because the package is miconfigured, buggy or out of date.
Great idea about the in-store demo machine, man! I know that many of my friends were always curious about Linux and had heard a lot of good things about it, but had no idea what the heck it was/did/looked like. A demo machine would allow people to peek and prod and just basically see that Linux isn't just for geeks and would sell a lot of copies of Linux...
To say I'd been grappling with Redhat is an understatement - too many issues to list, and I spent most of my time trying to maintain a semi-stable system rather than anything fun.
SuSE 6.1 was a revelation. YAST is a joy to use, the install procedure very easy, SaX is fantastic for setting up X - it all just *worked*, first time, no tinkering or gotchas! The quality of the documentation is also fabulous.
Basically, I've still got a massive grin on my face, and I'm telling everyone about it! 8)
Anyway, I'd better shut up now!
Read my online journal: http://chris.carline.org
To say I'd been grappling with Redhat is an understatement - too many issues to list, and I spent most of my time trying to maintain a semi-stable system rather than anything fun.
YAST is a joy to use, the install procedure very easy, SaX is fantastic, it all just *worked*, first time, no tinkering or gotchas! The quality of the documentation is fabulous.
Basically, I've still got a massive grin on my face! 8)
Read my online journal: http://chris.carline.org
Just two days after ordering and recieving SuSE Linux 6.1 from LinuxMall for $39.95, I step out to CompUSA to pick up a couple games for the Windows box, and lo! What do I see but the same austere white box with a price 10 dollars less than I payed! I wanted to cry. but I didn't. Oh well. I still love it! :)
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
"...their enhancements and extra utilities (Yast, etc.) are not released as free software and remain proprietary."
Of course, this means that you cannot sell _any_ media that contains the modified version. This means popular outlets that sell cheapo CD's can't produce distribution discs.
This is an example of the classic "non-commerical" clause and thus does not meet the OSD.
If Red Hat had put portions of their installer under a similar license, then we would not have Mandrake Linux, which has graduated from "Redhat + KDE" to become a testbed distribution for developing ease-of-use technologies. And Mandrake Linux has not cut into Red Hat's sales at all.
That's why people bitch about Yast so much. SuSE is a great product otherwise, and could be adapted and customized for use in markets that require specialization. But instead, we are stuck with a paranoid, monolithic company.
Get real, SuSE. People are going to buy your distro because its so well polished in the first place. There's no need to continue to stifle innovation.
Unless, of course, you are afraid that a bunch of people working together over the Internet can produce and market a product that is better than yours using your own technology as a basis. If that is the case, then not only are you grossly missing the point of free software, you are going against the very heart of the community that buys your products.
P.S.- As for the person you hired to work on X, you are to be commended. Still, it makes understanding of the Yast license even more difficult. I guess maybe you support Free Software when it's "convenient".
ich bin ein der SuSer!
no kidding.
I was just a little pissed to see it drop to zero.
...and now it's -1.
Good god, people, I thought it was somewhat funny. What is this, some sort of attempted backlash at anything slightly resembling aryanism?
It was at least somewhat on topic... who pissed in their wheaties?
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!
:-)
...A view of the Universe functioning...
Now all we need is Debian and Slackware up on
the shelves... Then those people can see that
there really is more than Red Hat and Caldera
in the linux world.
----------------------------------------
I think that the definition of a package is not the same when SuSE and Debain define certain things as packages... From my understanding, Debian includes *everything* in their 2k-3k packages...- ---
...A view of the Universe functioning...
------------------------------------
belbo
--
"Just believe everything I tell you, and it will all be very, very simple."
A "berliner" still is something like a Danish.
So you could translate it right into english - "I am a Dane" versus "I am a Danish".
--
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
It has been in some of the Borders here in the Northern Va aera for months, where have you been?
Only 'flamers' flame!
Best Buy had Red Hat 6.0, 5.2 and OpenLinux on an endcap when I stopped in this weekend. Very nice placement. That $75 for RedHat 6.0 kinda made my brain hurt though.
Jarod
I still can't get the taste of $78 for RedHat out of my mouth.
Heh, at a Hastings in College Station, they have a small display in the center of the store with Redhat 6.0 (at a whopping $88) and immediately below it, Suse 6.1 ($29). Hmm.. wonder which one I'm going to buy (well, if I was planning on buying either of them.)
Hmmm.... at the MicroCenter in Santa Clara, CA, Linux is displayed quite prominently. Slackware and FreeBSD may be near the porn. However, they're not in boxes, anyway. RedHat and SuSE have been sold in MC for a long time....
I still can't get the taste of $78 for RedHat out of my mouth.
Who do they think they are--Caldera? (another longtime MicroCenter resident...)
--Al
It's called co-op. Believe it or not, companies actually pay to get their products in prominent positions.
--- "If a man speaks in a forest, and no woman hears him, is he still wrong?"
I was at Micro-Center the other day and went looking for the Linux software section. Gee, it is intermixed with such useful software as "All Nude Girls" and "Swimsuit Babes Spectacular". Linux is not getting the retail shelf space like Microsoft. Micro-Center just placed it willy-nilly along side the garbase software. We should complain until Linux gets its own section away from the nudey-cdrom garbage.
> The sky was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.
I got to thinking about this when rereading Neuromancer a couple of months ago. The first time I read it, years ago, that phrase meant to me the mottled, flickering grey of a static-filled CRT. These days, with electronic tuning and detection of a valid video signal, that means a solid bright blue screen (not unlike BSODs).
Which leads to a totally different "mood" conjured up by that phrase -- gloomy overcast or bright cloudless blue?
Neuromancer was written long enough ago I suspect he meant the former, but it shows the danger of using technological metaphors...
-- Alastair
Whow - as a german Linux-enthusiast it is nice to see that so many people love the SuSE in the outer world 8o). Because it is a german distribution it is the most used distri here - I often get flamed, because I use it and not RH or DEB -- the usual distri-war ;-). Nice to see that it is the other way round in the US...
-- *SIGh*
I went into Comp USA Friday to pick up Red Hat 6.0, and found Caldera OpenLinux 2.2 and Suse 6.1 right next to it, as well as ApplixWare and WordPerfect 8 Personal Edition. I thought that was impressive, until I brought my *shudder* $80 purchase to the cash register... Lo and behold, Red Hat 6.0 was on the display shelf right next to the registers! (Still no Civ:CTP, though) *sigh*
I have to say that this distribution (6.1) is one of the best I've bought yet. As a current RH 4, RH 5.2, and Caldera 1.3 owner as well, SuSE 6.1 tops them all. The package is WELL WORTH the $30 when you get 5 CD's jam packed with goodies and a nice book.
I have installed it 4 times (just for practice *grin*) and I have yet to be able to get enough time to actually go through all the available packages. My most recent install, I simply choose EVERY PACKAGE which is over 400!
A great value for anyone looking to add SuSE to their distro collection.
I expect my Caldera 2.2 in the mail sometime soon and I'll get RH 6.0 at the expo this week so we'll see how they compare.
I was completely guessing at the number of packages available. The SuSE site says the 5 CD's have over 900 packages.
Most people are familiar with the term
Ich Bin Ein
I am a...
from JFK's famous speech (Even though he called himself a jelly donut).
He was mentioning that he uses SuSE. (SuSer)
Since SuSE is from germany.... Sorta fits
RB
Of course there's dust on the NT boxes. Cambridge, MA is the neighborhood where X and Kerberos were born. And I hope Cambridge stays that way!
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
by Anonymous Coward on 18/05/99 9:35 EDT
... even if you know already perfectly well where it is shelved. If the 100st person comes and ask the same question, maybe they will wisen up, and shelve it at a more prominent place.
Right on, Good call!
Many businesses seem to be managed by zombies, who don't care (much) what customers want, so long as the store generates enough custom to pay their bills. "Conservative" in the pejorative sense, rather than the positive sense. However, even smart / smarter managers don't know what you want unless asked.
In the past couple of years, I have grown increasingly bold about asking / suggesting / requesting products I'd like to see when visiting retail places (not just computer stuff), and it feels good because it puts the shoe on the other foot. Much better than whining that "They don't carry it!" even though I still do that occasionally too.
Same goes for on-line comments for any software house etc. Ask for Linux / other Free OS stuff, indicate your interest in seeing a good selection.
Ask, ask, ask! Since I not a coder, but I like the idea of free / Free software, this seems to be one thing that people like me can do. Join in!
If you make it a point each time you go into a software shop (esp. the giant national chains, where hopefully there is some central accounting) and asking for a specific piece of Linux or other Free OS software that you don't see on the shelf, filling out a request form if one is available, then soon the avalanche of software availability will grow stronger! Maybe also specifically thank the manager if you do find a piece of software you want, mention that you will refer some friends there.
Point is, the mindset that "Nobody uses / buys Free OS software" is circular
Tim
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
They've had Linux for quite awhile now, and be ye surprised to find out they stick all the OS software in one section. Win98 Downgrade on the right shelf, Linux distros including linux powertools on the left shelf. Too bad their slow asses haven't gotten Redhat 6.o expert pack yet. It's supposed to be the affordable one with just 2 cds and installation docs.
well... not relly from the side of german grammer...
... :-)
Ich bin *ein* Berliner.
would really mean Im a donut. JFK should have said
Ich bin Berliner.
But since most Germans even dont know this difference
First to say, that I am a SuSE user since several Years, because for me it is best....
... but....
I was very unhappy installing version 6.1! After upgrading from version 6.0 lots of things on my machine do not work anymore:
- Apache is not coming up after reboot.
- MySQL too
- MySQL-Perl modules vanished and I had to reinstall by hand
- ISDN is not working anymore, because they forgot to add the masquerading kernel modules
If You look at there bugfixsite http://www.suse.de/patches/61_update.html this did not wonder me anymore.
Hey guys, SuSE is good, but is it best? Do I have the time and money to download about 10Megs of bugfixes and get a not working internethost after upgrading?
I think we all should think about how fast and often an upgrade-version should be issued. I know, the development of free software lives from early publishing software and its code, but if I buy a Linux distribution, my system should stay stable after (down-) up-grading.
First to say, that I am a SuSE user since several Years, because for me it is best.... ... but.... I was very unhappy installing version 6.1! After upgrading from version 6.0 lots of things on my machine do not work anymore: - Apache is not coming up after reboot. - MySQL too - MySQL-Perl modules vanished and I had to reinstall by hand - ISDN is not working anymore, because they forgot to add the masquerading kernel modules If You look at there bugfixsite http://www.suse.de/patches/61_update.html this did not wonder me anymore. Hey guys, SuSE is good, but is it best? Do I have the time and money to download about 10Megs of bugfixes and get a not working internethost after upgrading? I think we all should think about how fast and often an upgrade-version should be issued. I know, the development of free software lives from early publishing software and its code, but if I buy a Linux distribution, my system should stay stable after (down-) up-grading.
The one here in Boca Raton and Coconut Creek (FL) carries a large selection also.
Even better they have all the
Episode I "the Phantom Annoyance" stuff at 20% off. I stood there and read the comic book, now I don't "have" to make to premier, I already know the ending.
(Sorry, couldn't resist)
No,
"ein Berliner" refers to a member of a group which calls themselves "Berliner", whereas "Berliner" by itself means someone from Berlin.
So JFK said he was with the Berlin people instead of simply saying he was from Berlin. It's a subtle difference, it's difficult to explaii, but he chose the right words, even though there would be this ambiguity, if you looked at it context-free.
SuSE has not done well by their subscribers. When I signed up for a subscription I thought I would be the first kid on the block with the new distro. Not so. Apparently retailers got it first.
bummer...
(whiner mode = off)
Like alternative OS's? try an alternative bicycle:
http://www.recumbents.com
Like an alternative OS? Try an alternative bicycle: http://www.recumbents.com
Interesting. I bought the same distro about a week ago and installed it--with some problems. Actually, I wiped my hard drive twice. *sigh*
The supplied manual, while not bad, doesn't go into enough detail for new users about a few things. "Run FIPS or forget running Winblows" might be a good start. Also, there's at least one spot where the typesetting got mangled in the middle of a series of commands that should be typed exactly as written. *oops*
Good tech support, though, and YaST is easy to mess around with. Guess I'll have a better point of comparison when/if I ever try RedHat.
Give a monkey a brain and he'll swear he's the center of the universe.
Read the news, tripped down to the local Waldenbooks and asked - they didn't have a clue. But then, since Barnes & Noble opened their superstore next door, this has been a pretty depressed group of people.
Funny thing. I never thought to read about this here (:
In German a "Berliner" is person living in berlin _or_ a donut except in berlin. When you try to buy a donut in berlin you should use the word "Pfannkuchen" instead otherwise people will look a little bit confused.