Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop
by Volker Weber
Somebody from Novell not only sent me three Open Collaboration Client Solution DVDs but also an evaluation copy of Suse Linux Enterprise 10. All I need now is a serial for updates. ;-)
The last Windows machine has now officially left my office. Accounting is still on Windows but has been relegated from a VM running on Windows to one running on VMware Server in the basement.
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Just Register @Novell for a trial copy. It grants you IMHO a 3 month evaluation serial for online updates. To my knowledge you can repeat this step every 3 months to stay up-to-date ;)
good riddance. Congratulations, Volker!
Just upgrade to a recent Ubuntu or Debian and your updates come for free.
Vowe, can we expect somewhat of a comparison between Ubuntu et al. and SLED? A summary of why it's worth the extra pay and for whom it may be relevant?
IMHO linux is linux, no matter what "brand" the specific flavor is. the base is the same, the desktop is quite the same with a difference between KDE and GNOME -- where KDE is more like the Vista of both worlds (gimme eyecandy).
The only noticable difference lies within the management tools and the support you are given. With SLES or SLED (suse linux enterprise server and suse linux enterprise desktop) you buy support right with the box. This support includes updates and call in support via the hotline. Ubuntu offers support as a value added service via canonical -- the vendor behind the curtains of ubuntu. canonical sells support contracts for enterprises. updates are allways free with ubuntu and depending on the ubuntu version you have a long term update guarantee (6.06LTS and the upcoming 8.04LTS). This means that you do not have to upgrade the whole system to a later release to stay safe. LTS releases of ubuntu get 3 years of updates for desktops and 5 years for servers. the non LTS releases just have a 18 months lifecycle.
SLES and SLED have a longer lifecycle but also have fewer releases (ubuntu throws out a release every 6 months while suse only about every 2 years).
for myself i was using suse "brand" linux for a really long time since i was located in the same city where suse originated (and was able to pick up my box directly from them). what i disliked with suse was the fact that upgrading from a suse release to the next was much like the toss of a coin, it either worked or it destroyed your system leaving you with the option to reinstall from scratch to get it back to work.
what i love in ubuntu is the package management via the apt package facilities. hopping from release to release is just a matter of a click and some time to download the stuff right via the net. and it worked everytime. i have an installation that originally was a 5.04 and went up to the latest 7.10 without any problem. versioning in ubuntu is made in the terms of . so the latest 7.10 means october 2007.
if you want a hotline to call get suse. if you want a free bleeding edge desktop get ubuntu ;)
Well, the issue with upgrading-and-nothing-is-working-any-more applies (unfortunately) also to Ubuntu. At least on my machine, every time I get an update which requires a system restart, all alarm rings start yelling ...
Reinstalling everything (and losing every modification made before) is not really fun. And neither these nice little grub (menu.lst) modifications the update routines are creating and leaving my wife confused when she tries to start up her Windows ...
I am very happy with Ubuntu. Getting one machine with SLED serves a single purpose: IBM likes to make SLED (or RHEL) a supported platform. Next time I install an IBM product, I expect everything to work absolutely perfectly. No tweaking, no making things work. It either works or it does not.
@Volker, Optimistic I'd say...
I interpret Volker's "I expect" a little different, Stuart. I think he's not trying to say that he thinks this is how it's going to be, but this is what his expectations from a professional product would be and if IBM doesn't deliver it this way (which he may anticipate or not) he would be not statisfied... ;-)
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