Feature changed by: Richard Brown (RBrownSUSE) Feature #310560, revision 15 Title: Server download option openSUSE Distribution: Duplicate of #305664 - Master status: Evaluation by engineering manager + Master status: Done Priority Requester: Desirable Requested by: Jeremy Thornton (leebrad) Partner organization: openSUSE.org Description: I am sure this may have been proposed before, but just in case I think it is a good move if the SUSE project would consider the following... #Proposal Break 11.4+ distributions into the following downloadable images from the opensuse.org site... CURRENT OPTIONS 1. Gnome Desktop Live CD, 2. KDE Desktop Live CD, 3. Complete DVD 4. Net Install Image ADD 5. Server and Virtualization CD 6. Netbook Live Image (for future netbook installs). #Benefits 1.More accessible download options 2.Less frustrating if download fails 3.Less bandwidth requirements and cost to support the overall project, no longer required to download DVD or other images. 4.More upfront flexibile installation offerings. #Additional Considerations I have read comments from users who either don't realize a server option is built in or hate the idea of downloading the DVD just for a light server install. These can be built easily and maintained with the project since the intro of SUSE Studio, but are not necessarily posted on the opensuse.org site so it somewhat defeats the purpose to recommend SUSE Studio. Relations: - Server CD (feature/duplicate: 305664) Discussion: #1: Jan Engelhardt (jengelh) (2010-09-17 17:01:30) Seems to imply more work than actual gain. The virtualization userbase is not as strong as KDE or GNOME one. #2: Jeremy Thornton (leebrad) (2010-09-17 17:52:16) (reply to #1) The key being that SUSE will loose the benefit to compete with Ubuntu on a quick server install CD, rather than downloading a desktop oriented disc. One must understanding both convenience and marketing for new users (as Ubuntu in this case) by offering it as a clear distinct option that says we do servers not just desktop. Otherwise, the beauty and advanced capabilities of openSUSE will only remain to those who are technically literate and/or patient to download a 4gb DVD and figure out how to install the Server installation. The Server and Virtualization CD would contain both the stacks necessary to run web, file, print, and virtual servers for the small office or home user. It would not be just about a virtualization focus. #3: Jeremy Thornton (leebrad) (2010-09-17 18:45:25) (reply to #2) Actually, an additional thought it would mimic the SLED/SLES scenario. One disc for desktop another for server. It works for Novell, RedHat, and Ubuntu I would think it would work for the SUSE community. #5: Jan Engelhardt (jengelh) (2010-09-19 17:16:09) (reply to #2) There has been enough talk on the mailing list as to why SUSE is not actually competing with Ubuntu anywhere. The single most important statement was probably "übernoob segment". And that's not what SUSE targets. #4: Masim Sugianto (vavai) (2010-09-19 02:13:18) I'm very surprise with the speed of Ubuntu 10.04 server edition. It tooks only a few second for boot up and all the installed package are base package. Providing server edition for openSUSE will make a convenient way to build up server based on openSUSE #6: Robert Davies (robopensuse) (2011-02-02 10:07:27) One might think it logical to standardise on a Live CD install and add the "flavours" as Add On's, but that limits the installation flexibility and assumptions of the Live CD that they are tested on a "typical" Desktop system and pack the maximum amount of applications. There's already an openFate item for server and virtualisation CD which has been around for many releases. That ought to feature more than simply a different selection of packages. It should have kernels tuned to run well as guest in minimal bloat free install, as well as host OS installations. To make the Net Install more useful, and minimise bandwidth consumption, an installation & update cache mechanism, which could be pre-loaded with common package selections like Base, KDE, GNOME, Office via image type files would be useful. That would potentially solve, the "Download & Install in parallel" Fate item to. In my view, I think a more generalised method would be preferable to just adding to the download choices; but that requires rethinking the way the distro is bundled. Perhaps improving the descriptions (or better notes explaining the options) would suffice, rather than increasing the install images and release testing workload. -- openSUSE Feature: https://features.opensuse.org/310560