-----Original Message----- From: Eric Kahklen [mailto:eric@kahklen.com] Sent: 09 September 2004 15:53 To: SuSE-Security Subject: [suse-security] SUSE 9.0 Pro Production Quality?
I had a discussion with my local LUG and a member had some interesting threads to share. Basically it showed that SUSE 9.0 is not really a production level version. For production level use, it is recommended to go with the Enterprise version of SUSE. Has other people got this impression? My concern is that my company can't afford to purchase any more software at this time so would I be better off looking at something like Debian? I know this is kind of off topic, but basically I am curious if 9.0 Pro is secure and stable enough for my organization needs.
I use SLES 8 for my critical servers, and SuSE 9/9.1 Pro for workstations. SLES 8 and SLOX 4 both work well, once you get the megaraid driver sorted for your Dell server ;-) and isn't flashy. It has the software you need, most of the time, although it's behind in versions of Java and Tomcat. I don't run X most of the time, so recent versions of KDE aren't important. The support is a nice comfort blanket, although I havn't needed it for any post-installation problems. Yet. Fingers crossed. SuSE Pro 9.1 has a nice version of KDE and, again seem to work well. I use it on one server where I can't justify the extra cost, and really it doesn't worry me at all. I feel the security updates are timely enough, and if you don't load every package under the sun you should get away without too many problems. The only problem I've had is trying to get 3D acceleration working on my laptop and somehow knackering X in the process. My fault, I should have made sure I could retrace my steps. How much money is there available? Can you make a business case to management to get funding for software and maintenance? You can always play the "How much will downtime cost the business?" game. As it happens, if we didn't already have SuSE software in my company, including a time investment n getting SLOX working I'd have installed Debian on my new servers out of sheer cheapness ;-) Remember that there _are_ always negative experiences for all software and hardware, and the threads you were shown may just be a symptom of this. As an example, I've been trying to find a good AMD64 motherboard, and all forums I've read seem to say mostly bad things about them. This is because people complain more then celebrate - if I listened to all of these bad experiences I'd never buy anything. So.... by asking here you might get a little balance to the information you're receiving, good for you! Oh yes, the normal acronyms apply, especially YMMV. Tom.