Am Mittwoch, 15. Februar 2006 08:30 schrieb Peter Czanik:
Hello,
Ulrich Windl wrote:
I'd say that the media only includes GPL software now, and that Internet access is needed to download packages from non Novell-supported sites to complete the installation (media players, MP3, graphics drivers, modem drivers, printer drivers, ISDN, webcams, tuners, etc.).
Maybe some would see that equivalent with "don't buy".
I'm sorry to say, but I agree. The main selling point of SUSE was in my experience, that everything worked out of the box. And not just worked, but worked very well. My colleagues worked sometimes literally weeks to get Debian/Fedora/etc running at all on a hardware, and then to get it running STABLE. When they gave up, I installed SUSE on it without needing to download extra sources, patch the installation sources, building my own kernel (to make quick security fixes difficult) etc. On their notebooks even Debian fans use now SUSE ;-) And they provided very good feedback on SUSE, as they are seasoned sysadmins. But if we get back to stone age and support only a smaller subset of drivers, and a lot others will just go away, as the main selling point: easy installation and exceptional hardware support just go away. Bye,
I agree in part with what you say. One of the main reasons I use SUSE is I just plug it in and go on most of my machines, my recalcitrent ATi chipsetted laptop is another story... My desktops are usually installed and patched and 100% working within an hour of shoving in the SUSE DVD. But as I have said elsewhere in this thread, I'd like more information before starting to really rant. When was this decision made? How long have suppliers had to work on alternatives? (This is no different to MS changing the driver architecture for Windows ME or XP after 95/2000 driver models, or the current changes for Vista, and the suppliers rallied round and provided new drivers for them, eventually.) Until we have all the facts, we can rally against Novell as much as we want, but if they informed the hardware manufacturers 6 months ago and they are saying now that they haven't started on the alternatives, then that is their fault, not Novell's/the community's; if however they announced this in January/February and expect everything to be complete in time for the next Beta, then they obviously have a screw loose, and junking the non-GPL Kernel drivers without waiting to see if anybody can provide replacements seems like a bad idea. Please see my reply elsewhere on this. We need full disclosure from Novell/opensuse on exactly what the implications are, when this decision was made and who is co-operating, who isn't and what contingencies they have in case the suppliers aren't able to meet the deadlines for 10.1... Marcus said yesterday, for example, that he believes nVidia and ATi are working with Novell on providing alternative drivers for their video cards, if this is true, then this great news, but it is just more rumour, we need hard facts. The current situation just lends itself to more and more FUD from those with a vested interest in the "old ways". Dave