OpenSuSE 10.3 released

[Waldo]

It looks pretty good. It's faster than the previous 10.2, but installs still take much longer than othe popular installations. They are now making references to their one click install repository, but it's not really ready. Updating is now much easier, and they claim to have an ongoing path to all upgrades without having to uninstall anything. For example, if you have 10.2, you can get the "delta" to 10.3 and just install it over 10.2.

Waldo

[Oponium]

I've tried it.

Great release!

[bigiron45]

For those who've actually tried it, how's the multimedia capabilities out of the box? Play MP3's, movie trailers, flash, java, the " normal" stuff? Or do you have to jump through hoops to get that sort of stuff to work?
Thanks!
Kevin

[formerlylunixfanboy]

If you get the DVD iso (4.2 gig, more or less), the non-oss repositories are enabled on install and Adobe's Flash and Sun's Java are installed, (with the usual "Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, take my lungs and kidneys while you're at it" EULA that you agree to during the install,) and mp3 support is done in the default KDE desktop via amarok and the gstreamer mp3 codec from Fluendo, using a backed for amarok called yauap (Yet Another Useless Audio Player) which resurrects the gstreamer engine for amarok. RealPlayer 10.something is also included. The quicktime, wmv, et al. are problematic, covered via enabling "community repositories" in the YaST2 repositories setup section.

[frazelle09]

Do you know if it does Wine, specifically Picasa and/or Goggleearth?

Thanks and have a great morning!

[formerlylunixfanboy]

Google Earth was a .bin which installed a native GNU/Linux version which ran quite well, and Picassa came as an .rpm bundled with a version of Wine. I ran YaST2, it installed, Picassa fired up from an entry in the menu under "Applications/New Applications" and promptly scanned and catalogued the .pngs I use for wallpaper. So, Picassa and Google Earth both work.

[Dr.Jones]

Originally Posted by frazelle09

Do you know if it does Wine, specifically Picasa and/or Goggleearth?

Google Earth does not require wine (just installed via CNR.com)....

[frazelle09]

Oh, darn. That's pretty frightening

So, Picassa and Google Earth both work.

when compared to the experience i've had with my present OS. Sigh. Must be nice.

Google Earth does not require wine (just installed via CNR.com)....

Yeah. That's what i mean. i need Wine for just one little, itty, bitty program called Ocean. No go.

Picasa and Googleearth, installed from CNR, just either crash my Display (Picasa) or plain just don't work (GE).

Have a great morning!

[jrusso2]

Someone on the Ubuntu forum said it plays encrypted DVD out of the box is this true?

[formerlylunixfanboy]

Nope, does NOT play encrypted outta the box. No libdvdcss included, hence, no decryption.

[Waldo]

When it all shakes out and there are four or five distros that matter left standing to carry the Linux banner forward, I suspect Novell/SuSE and Red Hat will be at the front. Among the remaining two or three, I hope would be Linspire or Xandros or a similar distro that features ease of use for SOHO users that do not want to learn about OSs, and don't need additional complexities in their lives. Perhaps the current popularity of Ubuntu and Mandriva will leave them on the list, but I doubt it, as they really don't matter, and will be relegated to being historical list entries. What matters in this business is having the product marketed, sold, used, and supported. Nobody will be able to make a living off of fanboy distros, and when the fanboys get tired of them, they will fade away.

The new SuSE 10.3 is the most polished Linux distro I have seen yet. It has everything and then some built in. Everything is in it's place and is not hard to find. It is the Linux replacement for Windows XP Pro. I like it, and may start using it regularly.

I make a living supporting computer systems for small businesses so I have another standard mental filter that I run a distro through. Will my wife or brother be able to use it? Neither of them really understand the workings of a computer, but both use them extensively in their personal and professional lives. Linspire passes the "wife or brother test", SuSE does not. It requires commitment.

[DrHu]

Originally Posted by Waldo

I make a living supporting computer systems for small businesses so I have another standard mental filter that I run a distro through. Will my wife or brother be able to use it? Neither of them really understand the workings of a computer, but both use them extensively in their personal and professional lives. Linspire passes the "wife or brother test", SuSE does not. It requires commitment.

The Mom test has been disavowed
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1148570,00.asp
Choice doesn't have to be difficult,
http://reallylinux.com/docs/choosinglinux.shtml
--being a sucker for ad messages (direct or hidden), I get it "Make it happen" (RBS Royal Bank of Scotland), "Just do it" (Nike)

And lame ducks..
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/03/a...-campaign.html
http://www.jakeludington.com/life/20...vertising-yet/

My mental filters..
I have discovered that many users (meaning usually an application user aka word or hotmail), experienced computer users of desktops, not only don't understand how it works, they don't care until they have to call somebody.
--which is why many don't know where there files are, as an example, they only use what is put in front of them.

[Oponium]

Originally Posted by DrHu

The Mom test has been disavowed
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1148570,00.asp
Choice doesn't have to be difficult,
http://reallylinux.com/docs/choosinglinux.shtml
--being a sucker for ad messages (direct or hidden), I get it "Make it happen" (RBS Royal Bank of Scotland), "Just do it" (Nike)

And lame ducks..
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/03/a...-campaign.html
http://www.jakeludington.com/life/20...vertising-yet/

My mental filters..
I have discovered that many users (meaning usually an application user aka word or hotmail), experienced computer users of desktops, not only don't understand how it works, they don't care until they have to call somebody.
--which is why many don't know where there files are, as an example, they only use what is put in front of them.

Why do you talk like that?

[ChrisM]

I have to agree with Waldo, SuSE requires "knowing Linux" from a command line perspective. It is VERY smooth running and the configuring is acceptable (whereas I have a driver hang/lockup during the "auto" config portion of Freespire), I can select which interface to use and disable the internal damaged one (can't with Freespire, hence the lockup). But my wife and son would not be able to configure it and get it running, as easily as Freespire otherwise sets up and runs out of the box.

Also like how Samba and print queues work right out of the box with MS networks in Freespire, too, without the configuring required in SuSE.

Linux needs some "scripting" created for their installs, to make it more "user friendly", before it becomes more acceptable for the "common desktop". I'm hoping this obstacle will be overcome to the point even an MCSE can install and use it (not to mention us Newb's). Then we will see it flurish in place of M$ ......

[Waldo]

Originally Posted by ChrisM

I'm hoping this obstacle will be overcome to the point even an MCSE can install and use it.....

It is the policy in this forum not to use sarcasm against the weak and intellectually impaired. LOL Waldo

[ChrisM]

Speaking about weak and intelectually limited ....

Anyone know how to get SAMBA (print and file access) working on SuSE?
Or bypass the "Setup Wizard" in Freespire? I've got a driver that hangs me every time ....

[seeker5528]

Originally Posted by Arv3n

Why do you talk like that?

Maybe because he has had one too many cases where somebody talks about transfering all their files to a new machine or making copies so the machine can be wiped out and redone from scratch and when told about making a copy of the entire 'My Documents' folder which would include 'My Music' and 'My Pictures' the response is something like 'I don't put my documents in 'My Documents' I put them in Word' or 'I don't put my pictures in 'My Pictures' I put them in Adobe' or 'I don't put my music in 'My Music' I put them in iTunes'. They have no clue where the stuff is stored, they think it is in the application.

Later, Seeker