Dee McKinney wrote:
Anyone with 7.2 up & running here that could send answers to Joshua here ? Send him at isd@as.uaf.edu
Please include the receipient into the CC: next time. Asking to send mails to third parties on mailing-lists is not necessarily the politically correct way (It could mean asking to spam somebody).
Forwarded message from "Joshua J. Kugler" <isd@as.uaf.edu>
I've heard quite a bit about the merits of SuSE and was wondering what kind of learning curve would be required for someone moving from Mandrake.
- What is the layout for startup files (/etc/rc.d on Mdk) /etc/sbin.d, containing LSB-conforming startup-scripts.
RH or MDK startup-scripts typically do not conform to the LSB, i.e. they will not run without further adapations.
- What is the default layout for files that are installed? Do they prefer /opt, or /usr/local, etc? SuSE claims to follow the LSB and FHS, which in an ideal world would mean: /usr for OS-Vendor supplied packages /usr/local for local (non-Vendor supplied) packages /opt for add-on packages
In reality, SuSE actually basically follows this installation scheme, but there are exceptions. Major difference to RH/MDK: SuSE considers KDE, GNOME etc. to be add-on packages, i.e. they install them to /opt.
- How are the included GUI configuration utilities? I don't mind messing with text files, but on a new system, GUI config is nice. Mdk's control panel, HardDrake, etc., are REALLY nice.
Well, I liked YaST1 and I like parts of YaST2, but ... * YaST2 requires a lot of system resources. (Using YaST2 on low memory systems is a pain.) * YaST2's alternative ASCII-GUI is un-ergonomic and close to being unusable, IMHO. * YaST2 probably suites the demands of beginners and assists "advanced users", but there are parts in YaST2 which I find leaving many things to be desired (esp. package-management). * Some internals of YaST2 are arguable (esp. its relation to rpm's database) I have no personal experience with MDK, but according to what I have read and heard, MDK's GUI configuration utilities probably are superior to YaST2.
- SuSE uses the RPM-3.0.6 format, while RH uses RPM-4. I.e. RH (SRC-) RPMS exploiting RPM-4-features will not work under SuSE.
- SuSE's current libc is glibc2-2.2.2, ie. many binary RH-RPMS are binary compatible to SuSE-7.2
- SuSE's claim to follow the LSB in some cases means imcompatibility to RH/MDK.
- SuSE's own RPMs in most cases are imcompatile to other distributions (Different package names, different paths).
- Where are config files usually stored? /etc? Yes, to a wide extend they are installed to /etc and directories below, but there are exceptions.
- What is the preferred package? How good is the package compatability with Mdk/Redhat, etc? i.e., could I install Redhat RPMs and be OK? It depends.
- How well goes the install? Mandrake's install has gotten PRETTY smooth. Let me put it this way: If it works, it in most cases works smooth. If not, things are going to become pretty nasty.
SuSE's installation procedure is demanding to HW resources (From my experience: >64MB RAM + Swap), is not very fail-safe (If something fails, it often starts from the beginning) and time consuming (Installing the files while upgrading SuSE-7.1->7.2 on my notebook (PI/166MMX, 64MBRAM, 4xCDROM, 2GB HD) took > 8 hours).
With a little hand holding, I was able to install Mdk 8.0 on an P133 Compaq Armada the other day. With 16MB of RAM. :) This probably would be pretty tough with SuSE-7.2 :)
Any other pertinant information you feel necessary. SuSE is completely fixated on KDE, integration of all other GUIs need to be called "immature" (Their GNOME integration sucks, IMO). I.e. if you want KDE, SuSE is the right choice, if you want or need to use another desktop, you might consider using another distribution.
SuSE's ISupport (I don't know if they sell it outside of Germany) is, .. ..., last time I called them, it took them 18 days to respond with "No clue, never heared of this before..". Though SuSE's persuit to conform to the LSB might pay-off in longer terms, it nowadays actually means incompatibility to all other distributions. So, whether LSB-compliance actually is an advantage, still has to be proven. SuSE officially only provides essential bug-fixes to a release of their distribution. They do not officially provide feature-updates for a release. SuSE also does not provide beta-packages in a comparable way RH does provide on rawhide. Don't get me wrong, I would not be using SuSE since SuSE's earily days, if I was deeply dissatisfied with SuSE - The SuSE distro also is far from being perfect. For me personally, YaST2 and SuSE's way of focusing on KDE (neglecting other desktops) are close to being inacceptable, while most other parts of the SuSE distro are in pretty good shape. Ralf -- Ralf Corsepius Registered Linux User #26 http://counter.li.org