On 5/16/06, Pascal Bleser
Right. I even think it's a good concept. Mostly because it is available as a free download (I guess), SUSE 10.0 has had a huge gain. At least the Packman download stats have tripled since 10.0 has been released.
The strategy is quite clear. Spread the good word with SUSE Linux, and the more successful it is, the easier for Novell to convince people that the sister product is ready for corporate desktop. I haven't understood the concern some have expressed here that SUSE Linux is is not making money from selling the box. If there is a missing admin guide of sufficient quality, now is the time to create an opensource version, don't buy the box and spend the money on getting it printed. SUSE Linux needs to compete with Windows which comes bundled with most people's machine (the cost is hidden). It needs to compete with other distros such as Ubuntu, which will ship you printed CDs for free, and provide 3 years of support on desktop and 5 years on the server (with no registration :-). Peter 'Pflodo' Flodin