LinuxBeginner.org reviews SuSE Linux 9 after a week of usage.
A Week with SuSE Linux 9
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
LinuxBeginner.org reviews SuSE Linux 9 after a week of usage.
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Kind of a weak review in my opinion. Took him 5 days to do what I think most people would have accomplished in a single morning before Lunch time. And all that writing wasted describing what was included in each menu… uhh… why not just include a screenshot instead of wasting 3 paragraphs? The picture of the monitor is for configuring your monitor. The picture of the keyboard is for configuring your keyboard. The picture of the mouse is for configuring your mouse. The picture of the … you get the idea.
You might have a look at the url: LinuxBeginner.org
Yet this is the 14th SUSE 9 review, and SUSE releases every 6 months, not every year like Xandros.
I was just about to say the same. But then again, I installed from the DVD. I wonder why SuSE is not providing ISO’s. I agree with the reviewer that YaST is good. But the name is not.
Fedora is in dev. Still, is has been while since the last review.
seriously get some other news than suse and xandros, its not even news.
Not too many beginners are going to install and version of Linux via FTP and then do a custom kernel compile. Maybe newbies are getting better these days?
Well I agree entirely with the conclusion. However give me a DVD for install any day.
My only other comment is that once one sees how good SuSE is in GUI form, experience the raw power by changing the run level to 2, and learning the Linux commands. It is truly amazing what one can do WITHOUT the GUI! Play mp3 files, email, browser and so on.
This is my favourite distribution.
I have to say I kind of liked this review. Instead of a monotonous review over the installation, which apart from looks they all pretty much install the same, he went and described the sections of relevance. We all know what KDE looks like, and Gnome; but it was nice to read about YaST, the main thing that makes SuSE different.
SuSE doesn’t give ISO’s so that you’ll be more inclined to buy it. Just like Libranet whose download version is missing quite a few things, and Mandrake’s doesn’t include the kernel-source, or IcePack’s which is two versions old…
I bought SuSE 9, I’ve tried it on three machines, and I’ve yet to get it to work properly.
Machine 1: Boot-loader doesn’t work, CD-writing doesn’t work, non-Latin fonts don’t work.
Machine 2: Wouldn’t detect ADSL connection.
Machine 3: Sound works intermittently, often requiring reboot.
Oh yeah, and the “included” tech support won’t help with any of that. They suggest buying more tech support. Let’s try some good faith here, people.
A lot of other things are mis-configured, like the fact that you get a permissions error if you try changing icons on the KDE bar. Setting up Suse requires Linux newbies (like me) to get a crash course in the command line; not the best way to win over Windows users. And it’s not at all obvious how to mount shares from networked Windows machines; I haven’t figured that out yet.
I will admit that Suse overall looks pretty slick, and the installation procedure is pretty good. I really hoped this would be the distro for me. Really I did.
Now Mandrake 9.2, on the other hand, works terrific on my laptop, despite the vagaries of propietary laptop hardware. Highly recommended.
I admit their tech support is a load of crap. I called them about the hpoj (office jet) driver and they told me they don’t support anything outside of YAST. Nice. I figured it out myself, however, using the FAQ section of the Support Forums. That part of the web “service” is pretty good.
I tried Mandrake (8.2, 9.1, 9.2), but their USB functionality is flawed, at least on my machine. It will only detect my USB Keyboard/Mouse if it is in a specific port of the first USB hub. Also, Mandrake does not recognize my second USB hub at all. (The only distributions that have detected all of my hardware correctly is RedHat, SuSE, Libranet, Knoppix and Xandros).
I did an FTP install of SUSE 9 before Christmas. Since then I have used it every day at work. I think it is a weaker release than SUSE 8.2, that I use at home (and payed for).
My complaints are as follows:
The fonts are awful if not antialiased. If antialiased, applications runs much slower. For example, in Konsole slow scrolling makes my build scripts, or tail of logs run slower than neccessary.
Problems with localization. The supplied Mozilla can not interpret HTML pages in iso8859-1 sometimes. I have no problems with an offical Mozilla.
Keyboard problems. No matter how I try, I can’t make the keyboard return super for the windows key, meta for alt, and use swedish keyboard layout with nodeadkeys. It seems to be a conflict between KDE and Yast, although I don’t know. SUSE 8.2 works like I want.
Gtk programs, such as Gimp, use the terrible Keramik theme (or some lookalike). Changing the style in KDE does not affect the gimp. I don’t know how to get default gtk look for the gimp.
I have been somewhat disappointed with SUSE 9. SUSE 8.2 was great though.
Keyboard problems. No matter how I try, I can’t make the keyboard return super for the windows key, meta for alt, and use swedish keyboard layout with nodeadkeys. It seems to be a conflict between KDE and Yast, although I don’t know. SUSE 8.2 works like I want.
Speaking of keyboard problems, that’s another problem I’ve had with machine #3 under Suse 9 (see my post above). The root password I chose uses a mix of upper and lowercase. However, sometimes I have to use the left shift key (the right one won’t work), and sometimes I have to use the right shift key (the left one won’t work) for the uppercase letters. There’s no telling which one will work until I try. It’s a bizarre bug.
Paul
I use the FTP version also, but it installed well enough for my requirements.
NOW,
THE BIG Experience comes after installing KDE 3.2rc1…
Some minor “get used” to it, setting the theme to Plastik, and tweaking a bit the color scheme too.
Try KDE 3.2rc1…. Konqueror is a lot better on the web surfing, as File Manager also, lots of small changes that make your experience nicer, and a more consistent.
Very good on SuSE 9.0, hope we get soon a 9.1 with KDE 3.2 and kernel 2.6… it will be a serious MOMENT in Linux history…
OK, Eugenia, it may be bloated but it is really going in the right direction … and bye bye XP… he he.
I, like a lot of others in here, have to say that the review was a little on the lame side. I’ve used SuSE 9 Pro since it’s release and I love it. It’s the most complete distro that I’ve found and it sure beats the crap out of RH. I’ve found that RH and Mandrake, while being good for n00bs, just doesn’t cut it with the power users. While not LFS, SuSE does get the job done.