Today, SuSE Linux has announced the availability of the latest version of SuSE Linux for October 7th. Blending operating system and applications, SuSE’s system assistant, YaST2 (Yet another Setup Tool), is the core element and administration center of this comprehensive package for first-time and experienced Linux users. Read the whole press release explaining all the new features. Also, SuSE Linux is the latest vendor to drop Sun Microsystems Inc.’s branded StarOffice 6.0 desktop productivity suite in favor of the free OpenOffice alternative. SuSE on Tuesday confirmed to eWEEK that it had decided not to include StarOffice 6.0 in SuSE Linux 8.1.
New SuSE Linux 8.1 Available on October 7th; Drops StarOffice
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Ones apon a time I flirted with the idea of installing this distro but then I noticed they don’t release ISO’s, and there was some copywrite issues with yaST Is this still the case?
Untill they start acting like they beleive in what they’re selling i’ll stick to real linux distros.
I just noticed im typing this from a Windows XP machine. Calling someone a hypocrite while being hypocritical..bah where is my coffee
They don’t release ISO’s but I don’t see what this has to do with what they are selling. Free Software isn’t about free as in cost distribution. The opposite is the case actually. Weither or not someone provides you with free downloads (which costs him money btw!) is completely up to him and just a consumer service.
The real issue is the YaST license, as this restricts people from burning CD’s and selling them for a cheap price.
It does _not_ restrict people from offerering their own SuSE downloads though (but nobody does AFAIK). This is completely against the Free Software philosophy (and the argument that they don’t want anyone else to make money with their work is weak, as they are doing exactly this with work of other people like the distribution they based of (Slackware) or the packaging software they use (RPM) and of course 98% of the software they distribute).
SuSE is really a “Linux company” but not a “Free Software/ Open Source company”. Weither you like that or not is up to your own judgement of course.
Personally, I do not mind it. I mean, I understand that being a German company trying to sell in the biggest computer market, in US, they have to make sure that they actually sell things and not get smacked by the $5 cheap CD companies.
They have lots of employees with families that they need to feed.
http://www.openoffice.org/FAQs/faq-other.html#7
7. Why should we say “OpenOffice.org” instead of simply “OpenOffice”?
The trademark for “OpenOffice” belongs to someone else. Therefore we must use “OpenOffice.org” when referring to this open source project and its software.
Oh, give me a break, enough already. On the Xandros preview I wrote it correctly. The current text is again a text from the original article that we link. So, go and shout to eWeek, not to us.
You are free to download SuSE til you hearts content. I liek suse personally, very reliable solid OS,, more for servers then for endusers though. Does anyone know what GCC version they are going to ship with 8.1? I got spoiled with mandrakes bleeding edgeness and feel liek im missing stuff when i switch back to suse
But it is a good system and Yast is well worth the money (as thats all your really paying for). Everyone needs to bear in mind that RedHat uses proprietary software just liek suse. Redhat just leaves the proprietary stuff off their ISO files. Now what would SuSE be if they left Yast/YaST2 off their ISO files?.Everyone would pitch a fit 
and it wouldnt be SuSE anymore.
GCC 3.2…. I might switch back
from mandrake. Should have read the press release before posting… my bad.
“Everyone needs to bear in mind that RedHat uses proprietary software”
They ship some proprietory, optional software. That’s something completely then developing proprietory software.
YaST is the most central part of SuSE, so it isn’t optional at all (basically yes, but you would end up with a semi-functional thing).
I’m not really against proprietory software as long as I can choose freely if I want to use it or not. Not that I would be forced to buy SuSE.
But I believe that it’s important not to downplay it and to be aware of the possible consequences.
A Red Hat monopoly could never happen, because Mandrake could copy “Red Hat XP” one to one and change it, suddenly we would have an oligopoly again.
But a SuSE monopoly could happen (theoretically, I know that it practically won’t and that YaST is not that difficult to replace).
Don’t think I hate SuSE, I don’t. I believe that the guys are quite ok… And that there is no danger coming from them and YaST so buy it if you like it. But I also think that we should watch those developments closely and be carefull.
>GCC 3.2…. I might switch back
from mandrake
The new mandrake also has gcc 3.2.
I’m still in love with my SuSE 8 – I’m certainly going to upgrade to 8.1. Let’s see how that works.
For example there are isos for their SPARC version. THe only reason they don’t release isos is because everybody would take advantage of them. ISOS are meant to be used for trial purposes, but most people jsut download it and don’t give anything to the company. That’s why they have a great thing called SUSE LIVE which will let you try it. IT is also hassle free, you never have to install it.
The whole distribution is available on the SuSE FTP server. You can do a “FTP installation” and get everything for free, including YaST. I can only recommend buying it regularly, though. Being new to Linux, you’re going to want those printed manuals. The SuSE handbook is the best Linux beginner’s guide I’ve seen so far. It helped me tremendously.
Granted, Suse does not supply ISO’s but as someone else mentioned, you can do a ftp install.(Of course, a fat pipe would be helpful).
I don’t have a problem paying for it. It’s funny though, I have spent enough on buying distro’s to more then cover the cost of WinXP and Office and Visio and ….but I don’t mind. By actually paying for the product I am actually contributing to helping keep the linux company going, albeit in small way. And that feels good. Besides…I get a whole lot of quality software for the price paid.
If you want to try Suse, go for their live evaluation cd. It shows what the distro can do for you.
If you want to use Suse, buy their product. It works very well, has few bugs and Yast2 is the best configuring tool for Linux I have yet to see.
Granted I left Redhat when 7.0 came out, and I gave up on Mandrake a long time ago.
Suse is easily worth the $80 or so it costs. The time saved on having Yast2 easily makes up the price.
Just my humble opinion
Michael
There were never any copyright issues with YaST, just that it isn’t release on any OSI-approved license.
Plus, if you want an ISO, look elsewhere. SuSE isn’t built for those who don’t want to force out money to *buy* something.
All I care is waht the end product is. SO Far I have had nothing but postitive expereiences, cant’s say the same about Redhat 7.3 or Mandrake 8.2.