[Wolves] Linux Format

[Peter Cannon]

On Monday 09 May 2005 12:22, Kevanf1 wrote:

> I'm not so sure it is the best direction for SuSE though.  After all,
> they've always been the ones who put out reliable secure distro's with
> no or very few bugs.  As you say, look at 9.2...or preferably
> don't...I still prefer 9.1  So, going for beta releases of software is
> perhaps not good?

Actually I think they have taken the safest parts i.e. KDE and Open Office 
these are generally pretty safe in respect that if your KDE GUI fails to open 
you can always use a Gnome session until a fix comes out and Open Office can 
be worked around in the short term with Abiword or a simple text file I think 
its more problamatic when it comes to the Kernel, networking and system tools 
and processes.

My guess is they are targeting Red Hat/Fedora the stability in respect of RH 
and latest releases with regards to say FC4 due for release around June.

I'm in agreement with what I read (not sure it was in Linux Format) that 
Novell was considered a bit of a dying breed until they bought Suse and that 
Suse had become stale in respect of package options.

I think Suse needed a kick up the bum and from what I've seen pictures of and 
read they might be on to a winner.

> Then as you say, Mandriva (used to be Mandrake but they merged with
> Conectiva - Brazilian distro - in case you were wondering...no, I
> don't mean you Peter :-))  ) is looking good. 

I've always promoted Mandrake/Mandriva as the best 'first time user' 
distribution;

1. It looks and feels like Windows which is good for converts.
2. Its very easy to use.
3. Its laid out like a home user system should be, pretty easy to use icons 
and lots of wizards.

I've moved on from Mandrake/Mandriva to put it in another context its like 
using say Windows ME and Windows 2000 you can really tell the difference 
(I didn't use XP as an example they're too close to each other now) 
most other Linux distro's require a little knowledge to get the best out of 
them.

> They have gone the opposite way to SuSE and are now looking at stability 
> over cuttingedge.  They've swapped places....

Mandrake came very close to going bust a couple of years back I think the game 
plan is to consolidate what they have and then build from there. I don't see 
them being a threat to Suse or RH for at least a year but watch this space.

-- 
 
Regards,
Peter Cannon.
peter at cannon-linux.co.uk
Fedora Core 3 & Suse Pro 9.2

"There is every excuse for not knowing
there is no excuse for not asking"
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