Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (466 mails)

[derek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Derek)]

> SuSe is cheaper, has more offerings in their package (I need the manual),
> and looks like it has a better install program. Is this correct?

SuSE and Redhat are both available for a pittance. Linux is free,
remember! You need to look closely at the packages, consider what level
of suport you might need, etc, then decide how much you want to pay for
it. RH's support is somewhat better than SuSE's (last time I looked), so
maybe the RH package is better value? If you're happy to go it alone
without support or manuals, the price is negligable.

> I also read that SuSe is finding wide acceptance in the USA. Is this correct?

Dunno, but I've seen SuSE 6.1 much more frequently in the UK than RHL
6.0. Maybe that's just because SuSE6.1 is older?

> I realize that each distribution has their own characteristics and that
> Redhat is good for the beginner but is this also true of SuSe? Is SuSe a
> good choice for the novice?

That depends on the novice. If the novice just wants to plug it in and
watch it happen, I would say SuSE is not suitable. COL2.2 is probably a
better bet. If the novice is keen to learn and won't be phased by
problems, and is prepared to ask for help on here (amongst other places)
SuSE may be OK. I've been running SuSE for a few weeks now, and I'm
getting used to it, but my feeling is still that it is more suited to
someone who knows what they are doing. This is bourne out in all the
reviews I've read. eg. I've seen reviewers sing the praises of RHL's
linuxconf admin tool, but I've never seen much enthusiasm for YaST
(expect on here). My experience bears this out: I still find YaST
unintuitive and linuxconf is still the thing I miss most from my old RHL
setup.

My advice, if you have the time, is to buy both the distro's without
support from Linuxmall (or somewhere) for a couple of bucks each, then
try them both. Do SuSE first, since it's undoubtedly the more powerful
and complete distribution. See how far you get without the official
support package. You'll probably answer your own questions in an
afternoon.

If you don't have the time, or you're not up for a potential fight,
RHL6.0, with it's better support and slicker admin is probably the
better choice for the novice, or COL2.2 for the complete novice.

(Hey, no flames (like last time I gave this opinion)! The guy is asking
for opinions, and this is mine. It remains mine after using SuSE6.1 for
several weeks.)