Hello, Andreas Jaeger wrote:
With SUSE Linux 10.1 we have redesigned the way we handle software. We are proud to be able to announce our new software management backend which is based on the so-called library "libzypp" and which also integrates Novell's ZENworks technology. Also we decided to follow the repomd standard (sometimes known as "YUM repository") for our new software repositories.
I have to say I'm rather happy with libzypp, which seems to work in general as well as the previous version. That is during installation, software install etc. in YaST. (I especially like y2pmsh which works nice - it startups fast, is reasonably verbose and works well. (Adding some progress bars, especially to the yast2 dialogs [y2pmsh is better] to show that one updates a repository and how much progress it has would be nice.) What I really like is that updates are now also supported in the software install. They belong together. I have to admit I do not like zmd/rug. Given that zmd runs all the time, it simply takes too long for the first rug runs. (y2pmsh also takes a while, but it is not running all the time.) zmd is also rather slow after downloading [i.e. when sorting out the data] and in general when starting up, even if there is nothing to be downloaded. (I have to admit that zmd really improved and that some dislike stems from older versions.) I miss also some status information when running rug - it sometimes hangs without being clear what zmd is duing, which causes the hang. I also don't like that zmd and yast seem to download the repository data separately, including of having their own catalogs etc. They are being kept in sync, but still. I really dislike the zen-installer/zen-remover. Somehow they feel a bit clumsy in use, the detail field is not resizable and often too small. I don't see for zen-installer/zen-remover the advantage compared to yast2 sw_single, but ok, I don't mind having them additionally available. zen-updater I do not like either. If it shows that there is update available & I start it, it shows for a long time only getting list while it wakes up zmd in the background (which takes, see above, rather long). Also here there is no real feedback given in this case. What is an improvement for home users: a user can update software himself without the need to become a superuser. In terms of software watcher [SUSE watcher, zen-updater]: - I like to see _quickly_ a summary, possibly with importance of the updates (security, normal, enhancements) - Running with a click either something small and simple (why not zen-updater) or the yast package installer with "Patches" selected in the drop-down list. Having the yast2 package installer is not only more verbose but also allows you to easily add more packages, delete packages etc. at the same time. - Somewhere accessible: Configure automatic updates [e.g. only security-updates repository] Tobias