SUSE Linux Attracts 22,700 Hardware and Software Partners

Fettoosh: I wish your friend had taken five minutes to visit the SalixOS forum. In general, the live CD installer is a POS. The installable CD works very, very well indeed and I'd bet it wouldn't have crashed. Once installed SalixOS is as user friendly as any Linux distro running XFCE (since that was his choice) and I doubt he would have had much trouble.

In general, instead of trying "again and again" a simple question might have yielded a simple answer, less frustration, and a much better outcome.

Windows is no easier to install and supports far less hardware out of the box. As others have noted, it seems easier because it's preinstalled. No Linux distro just works on all hardware. openSUSE most certainly does NOT on my hardware, though it can be made to work.

The comment that "all Linux distributions" should have long term support is silly at best. The garage distro made by the hobbyist really can't offer support at all. Some I would argue are such a mess that they shouldn't be released at all (No, thankfully, there aren't any major distros in that category.) The open nature of Linux guarantees that distros come in all shapes and sizes and levels of difficulty. Stick to the major ones and most work well in most use cases within their design parameters. I'd say they achieve that at least as well as Windows does and probably better.

@slacker_mike: I agree with you. Yet, when someone (like me, in a review) points out that Slackware claims to be easy to use (not for the non-technical sort, it's not) and that really, compared to other distros, it isn't, some in the Slackware community get very bent out of shape. You'd think I'd threatened to drown their baby in a bathtub or something. This isn't unique to Slackware, of course, and the Slackware community is certainly nowhere near the worst in this area. Still, religious devotion and zealotry around Linux distributions tends to drive people away and make Linux as a whole look ridiculous.

I write this because I wish you'd take what you posted here, which is good and sensible, and spread that message throughout the Slackware community. Slackware has some incredibly strong points and does some things incredibly well. It's stable and it performs well and tends to have relatively few bugs. Tout those points. Don't get bent out of shape when making an ease of use claim that, using accepted definitions of usability, simply doesn't hold up.

@Fettoosh

Quoting:Sorry @Ridcully, I disagree.

You are running Suse with KDE, but the fact is, KMail doesn't work for you. Granted it is not Suse's problem but rather a KDE problem, but Suse should have kept the working KMail 1.x version instead of updating to KMail 2. I believe such issues are the responsibility of the Distro to take care of.

@Fettosh and @alc.

I wouldn't put it quite that way Fettoosh. Right now, the version of KMail I am using "just works". I simply keep watching the releases of KDE4 and openSUSE and testing them.......and until this one piece of software within the entire package "just works", I stay where I am on a version of both that really does "just work" - wpb for the other versions. But a single problem package (KMail) in an entire system that otherwise definitely does "just work" is not quite as nasty a problem. And if all else fails, there are other email client options and those have all been explored. I do disagree with you however, on openSUSE's responsibilities with KMail. Given the time schedules and testing routines for an enormous OS, and then add at least "surface testing" of the entire suite of more or less complex DE's that come with openSUSE, I am reasonably sure that openSUSE would not have picked up the problem - nor do I see it as openSUSE's primary responsibility. I lay all the KMail problems firmly at the feet of the KDE team and the KMail developers in particular. The KMail version that was contained in KDE4.7 was very obviously defective/unfinished and should never have been released. It's rather like "shades of KDE4.0", and the only thing you learn from history is that developers don't seem to learn from history. Even if it's defective, get out the new version if only for personal satisfaction - user turn-off is immaterial. That's a bit cynical I guess, but it's how I sometimes feel.

Alc, I am personally rather pleased someone else has found the same solution I came to adopting. I also am using openSUSE 11.3 and like you, I have found it perfectly stable and so good that I see no reason to upgrade even though SUSE is no longer supporting this version.

@caitlyn.......I am going to make sure my "experimental friend" checks on your comments. Personally, I'd like him to fiddle about and get the thing going because I am sure he'd be extremely pleased with SalixOS once it loaded up for him. Thanks again for the comments.

@caitlyn,

I think you meant to address your first two paragraph to @Rifcully and the next two are were directed to me, I will responded to those.

Quoting:Windows is no easier to install and supports far less hardware out of the box. As others have noted, it seems easier because it's preinstalled. No Linux distro just works on all hardware. openSUSE most certainly does NOT on my hardware, though it can be made to work.

I don't like windows, I don't run windows, I don't think Windows is better than Linux, and Windows has nothing to do with what I said. I was strictly talking about Linux Distros and how QA should be taken more seriously.

Quoting:The comment that "all Linux distributions" should have long term support is silly at best. The garage distro made by the hobbyist really can't offer support at all. Some I would argue are such a mess that they shouldn't be released at all (No, thankfully, there aren't any major distros in that category.) The open nature of Linux guarantees that distros come in all shapes and sizes and levels of difficulty. Stick to the major ones and most work well in most use cases within their design parameters. I'd say they achieve that at least as well as Windows does and probably better.

We are not in a political debate to select sound bite and drop the rest of a statement. and I didn't say "all Linux distributions" period, I added the clause "If it is not possible for any reason,". Here it is again so you can read again.

Quoting:All Distros should have a long term support version. If it is not possible for any reason, it should be clearly published so users know what they are getting into.

What that means is, Distros that did NOT go through sufficient QA and not sure that every thing will work as they should, they should be flagged as experimental so users are aware that additional work might be needed.

Take K/Ubuntu for instance, Ubuntu *.04 are LTS while others are not. Also, experimental, under development, and PPA packages are kept separate. They are made available for those who want them on different repositories. That I would call a good software management. If that is not possible for any reason, then that particular Distro should be declared experimental.

I don't think this silly, on the contrary, this is maintaining certain level of quality assurance.

About Distros in the garage and half backed distros and such, no one is saying they should be banned from being released. They can do whatever they want and like but should not claim them ready for average users.

Quoting:However, I live in hope that in the next, or the next, or the next iteration, KMail will "just work" and once again become the solid client that it always was.

@Ridcully,

If you haven't noticed how much I favor and defend KDE team, you will now. :-)

I believe the KDE team is doing a fantastic job in terms of building a platform that is superior to any other. I have no doubt at all that KMail will eventually work perfectly and superbly. The changes that KMail is going through I have no doubt are the right thing to do to address issues you mention and others they have in their overall plan. Performance, reliability, serviceability, scalability, and robustness are some of those.

I currently use Gmail. I don't know whether KMail, after the changes are done, is going to be as good as GMail, but couple things that are very important to a good number of people that GMail denies its users are privacy and freedom. I am sure these are very important to you.

But, the approach that KMail developers have used to roll out the new version is not unique. it also plague many, if not all FOOS applications, with the exception of the Kernel and a few major applications.

That has to change. FOSS is no longer a teen age product, it matured enough not only to be a contender, but also ready to replace many of the commercial software. It should change because it is harming its chances of becoming the major player in IT. This change doesn't require a lot of resources, it just needs more attention to QA and show responsibility.

I believe things are changing, especially in KDE. KDE is expanding in an organized way and becoming more responsible to their users. The handling of KDE 5/Qt 5 upgrade plan and the couple revenue generating projects, Vivaldi/Spark & MyCloud, are good examples. The inclusion of KDEnlive among others, and restructuring KOffice and releasing it as Calligra Suite are also indication of positive change.

Let's hope things will happen sooner than later.