[lug] My experience with SuSE Linux

[Ferdinand Schmid]

I have configured several machines with an RTL8139 using SuSE 7.1
without any problems (single and multi nic systems).  Sound
configuration also always worked for me on 7.1 - but I had lots of
trouble with their live-eval distro.  Yast2 does however seem a bit
buggy so I sometimes just resort back to Yast1.  
Existing knowledge always helps so I am not surprised that you fare
better with RedHat.  I was talking about having to relearn things on
SuSE that I already know how to do with RedHat systems.  This knowledge
transfer is also one of the major problems for Windows users coming to
Linux.  They know how to deal with problems on Windows systems and have
to learn dealing with them on Linux systems.  

Life is full of compromises - SuSE Linux is no exception.  But I do
think it deserves consideration and so do other distros besides and
including RedHat.

Ferdinand

Calvin Dodge wrote:
> 
> And now for an opposing viewpoint (or at least a nitpick).
> 
> Yast may be a great tool, but it has its problems (aside from its (IIRC) proprietary nature).
> 
> I was helping a friend configure SuSE 7.1 recently, and Yast consistently quit with an "assert" line if we tried to configure if for the installed NIC (RTL8139). Yast kept running IF we specified a different card, but not if we selected the one which was actually installed.
> 
> I suppose we could have tried to find docs on fixing Yast, or determing just WHERE it stores its configuration info, but that would have involved an unpredictable amount of research time.
> 
> So ... we took the "easy" way out, and installed RH 7.1. Not only did it NOT have problems with the RTL8139 NIC, but it also found and automatically configured the sound card AND the second NIC (NE2000-compatible ISA). SuSE did neither.
> 
> I think I'll stick with RH, and use Webmin when I want a screen-oriented configuration program.
> 
> Calvin
> --
> Calvin Dodge
> Certified Linux Bigot (tm)
> http://www.caldodge.fpcc.net
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-- 
Ferdinand Schmid
http://www.archenergy.com
303-444-4149 x231