Topic: Linux: OpenSUSE 10.2

[Xessive]

Well I just tested out OpenSUSE 10.2, and I gotta say I loved it. It's not quite as glamorous as the Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (which only costs 47 Euros, approx. $60 USD), but it's pretty amazing.

I had a bit of trouble when I uninstalled it, but I sorted that problem out. Basically Linux sets up GRUB (a boot interface) on the MBR of the primary drive, but it doesn't back up the original MBR. I just had to reset it with FDISK.

Anyway, the OS is great on all fronts, but it takes a bit of getting used to. The only real problem is the lack of software and games.. Every thing's made for Windows.

I'm seriously considering a dual-boot (OpenSUSE makes that easy too).

Man, screw Vista! I ain't gonna switch unless I have to in 2-3 years!

Anyone else familiar with Linux desktops?

[iPPi]

I used to run a dual boot system that was running Fedora Core 3 I think.  My system still runs and stuff, but I haven't booted to Linux in like 2 years or something like that.  I simply don't need to do any work under the Linux environment anymore.  In the past, I had a few courses which used Linux libraries and were more handy to program in Linux, but nowadays, I just primarily do MATLAB, and some AJAX development, which can be done very well in Windows.

[Pugnate]

As good as it is, I uninstalled it from my other system after messing around. In the end there is no point, because you just want to be able to do everything from one OS.

If it had the same games support then it would have been another story.

[Xessive]

As good as it is, I uninstalled it from my other system after messing around. In the end there is no point, because you just want to be able to do everything from one OS.

If it had the same games support then it would have been another story.

Yeah, those are my main concerns. I am in part just trying to be prepared for any possible future

Hopefully some time in the future (not too far ahead) Linux will have just as much accessibility to games and other software as Windows, then it would be the obvious choice. It's just too bad Microsoft shot down Lindows.

[scottws]

I have a dual boot system with a recent version of Ubuntu.  Wireless and 3-D acceleration working as well.  I played a lot of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory on it and found it actually ran better in Linux for me.

It even detected my Windows partition and made it a folder on my desktop.  I mounted my Samba file server's music share as a music directory to make it seamless.

It worked really well, but in the end I had to go back because there is nothing nearly as good as Dreamweaver available in Linux.  There was one program I heard that was pretty good, but it was for KDE, not Gnome.  And I was using Gnome.  I also like Google Talk a lot more than GAIM, but there is no Google Talk Linux client, though they are going to release one eventually.

Linux still has some ways to go, but it's definitely getting there.

[Xessive]

Yeah Linux has its limitations, but it's pretty amazing for a free OS And I really respect Novell for sponsoring the openSUSE project.

I'm really looking forward to how it will evolve.

[scottws]

I don't like Red Hat because of the whole rpm thing.  I definitely experienced the infamous Linux "dependency hell" with rpm and Red Hat Fedora Core 2.

It's gotten better since Red Hat and its derivatives (like SuSE) started using the package manager yum to manage dependencies, but Debian and its derivatives (like Ubuntu) have been using deb file package manager apt-get and its GUI Synaptic for much longer.  And apt-get/Synaptic is way faster than yum.

[Xessive]

I'm still a novice with Linux, and I'm still learning how to recognize the effects (or side-effects) of the OS, specifically openSUSE. I've just figured out how to install drivers manually, like for my Radeon X1650 etc. Even though the GUI is pretty expansive, the OS still relies quite a bit on the console (which isn't really a big problem).

I always thought I'd go with Ubuntu, but everyone I know (who used Linux) always recommended Red Hat back in the day, and SUSE seemed like the easiest choice. openSUSE is really meant as an easy transition to Linux.

[scottws]

Even though the GUI is pretty expansive, the OS still relies quite a bit on the console (which isn't really a big problem).

Yeah.  In a way, Linux is like Windows 3.1, 95, and 98.  You are really just sending console commands when interacting with the GUI to change settings and whatnot.  It's very console-driven, but quite easy to use once you get the hang of the most basic and useful console commands.

But Linux is unlike Windows 3.1, 95, and 98 in that it is much more modern in its hardware support, security, stability, networking, and multi-user support.