On Thursday 18 November 2004 11:29 am, Jonathan Hutchins wrote:
I have had too many bad experiences with SuSE's package updates (particularly KDE) to recommend the downloadable version for a server. I feel the purchased version is not current enough given the price, and I would not be comfortable recommending it given the quality of the downloadable version.
I'm just going to touch on this portion of your email. SuSE's packages are very well tested, and I've never had a problem with them. Even when getting the KDE updates.
Now, I HAVE had some problems with KDE updates out of the supplemental tree. But if you look at their readme, those packages are provided out of kindness to the SuSE community. They aren't nearly as well tested; in fact, they are the packages that are being tested for the next SuSE release. If you've had update problems using these packages, well, you get what you paid for. If you use those packages, you should report any problems you find. You've effectively volunteered to be a beta tester when you use those packages.
Regarding price, the Enterprise version (such as SLES 9) is quite expensive. I don't blame you for not recommending the downloadable version for a server usage. I certainly wouldn't use it. And if you feel the Enterprise versions are too far behind, why not just run the Professional version of the desktop product? 9.1 Pro is incredibly stable, and reasonably up to date for being over 6 months old. 9.2 is available now, and the price isn't all that bad either. You can get the 'upgrade' version for only $60. It comes with a printed Administration Guide, 5 CDs and 2 DVDs. 32 bit and 64 bit editions are in the same box, although to install the 64bit edition you must use the DVDs.
If you pay for the 'full' version, the price jumps to I believe $90, and in edition to what you get above you also get a very nice printed Users Guide. Yes, you can buy the 'upgrade' version and do a full install. Lots of people like the printed manuals and I think the inclusion of those alone make the product worth $60-$90.
Rich