[KLUG Members] Suse questions

[Adam Williams]

>First let me say that I am not trying to start a Suse vs Red Hat war. I

Ok, we are just as happy to throw stones :)

>am just hoping to get a better idea of what to expect should I delve
>into Suse.
>The age old argument of whether size matters or not is evident when you
>consider the packaging of Suse. I mean, 6 CD's and a DVD (in
>Professional Edition)? That's a lot of stuff! More stuff can be
>confusing though. I am specifically wondering about the VMware that
>comes with Suse Pro. Is it a full version or a demo? Does anyone know
>for sure? 

The VMware version is a "demo",  on the one I saw anyway.  You can request 
a 30 day key just as if you downloaded it.

I think the 6 CD thing is rather silly,  most things on there are obselete 
at time of purchase (some for a long time) and most current packages by 
the time you get around to using them.  It is reminiscent of the CDs of 
the MIT or SunSite FTP sites one used to get by subscription,  only the 
reason for doing it that way (28.8 modem and expensive Internet access) is 
pretty much a thing of the past (in the USA anyway).

>On configuration and administration, I understand Suse keeps some files
>in different directories than Red Hat and other RPM based distros. What
>are the differences? My initial thought is that this departure from a
>loose defacto standard of file placement would not be good. But is it? 

It isn't good,  from an orthodox point of view.  RedHat is trying pretty 
hard to stick to the FSSTD,  other distros are more lax, or simply 
interpret it diffrently.  Most of the diffrences are in /var and /etc,  
but nothing really earthshaking.  But somepeople hate the FSSTD,  so 
one could reckon it either way.

>It also seems that Suse has better support for newer hardware, but I
>suppose that could be relative to the individual. My newest hardware is
>a PII-600. :) (Before that it was a 233 MMX!)

Yes,  Suse does, or used to (before becoming another IBM finger puppet*) 
actually participate in things like XFree86 developement on a rather 
aggressive scale.  More up-front user stuff than RedHat labs seems to 
focus on.

*Not that being an IBM finger puppet isn't a good thing.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ximian GNOME, Evolution, LTSP, and RedHat Linux + LVM & XFS
-----------------------------------------------------------

"Certainly, we should hold individuals accountable for 
 what they did wrong, and we probably will punish some, 
 although many others will wiggle away, hiding behind the 
 skirts of high-priced lawyers and political connections. 
 But we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that they did 
 what they did because the current system allowed it. In 
 fact, the system encouraged it." 

 --"Ethics Matters" columnist Carlton Vogt, writing about 
 Enron.