Jerry wrote regarding '[SLE] SuSE 9.2 and future packaging' on Fri, Nov 19 at 09:37:
Moving forward, we are at a similar point to where CDs were replacing floppies. One of the reasons I have always preferred SuSE over Red Hat, Mandrake and other media distros is that just about everything is included. But, in SuSE 9.2, the system lacks some packages on the CDs and the multi-layered DVD may not be readable on all DVD readers.
I would propose that SuSE make available through YOU or some other means a supplemental set of packages for CD users available when the media is released. I would propose that SuSE continue to provide the 2 DVDs that they now provide, but they could reduce the number of CDs, and provide some of the lower priority packages online so that customers who do not have access to the DVDs can obtain these packages.
My time's somewhat valuable, whereas DVD readers are cheap. Personally, I'd prefer to just get a modern DVD drive and stick it in my old, outdated computer that can't play most current DVD movies or read the current format of DVD media, rather than waste all night downloading a bunch of packages... I would propose that SuSE provide a link to froogle.com, which lists a new ATAPI DVD drive (which reads double-layer media) for as low as $19. Yes, $19. Sell your old crappy drive on eBay for $5-$10, since there's a new sucker online ever minute, and you've made back 1/2 of the cost to move to a faster drive. Put the DVD drive in a networked machine, NFS export it, and install everywhere from that one, $10 drive. You'll save more than $10 worth of time. --Danny, also noting that all the packages are available at ftp.suse.com a few weeks after the release...