Jump to content

The Downfall of Suse and Alternatives


striker

Recommended Posts

Yes, that's right Bruno ! I've burned my fingers on this keyboard by typing all those commands during 4 sessions/reinstalls I tried. B) (I like to start afresh with a clean system) Dunno what they did to SuSE :P but it certainly was not for the better. Two days fiddling in a row on this 'breaker' and still a no-go. In the end it all comes down to two things : SuSE doesn't even recognize a DVI-connected Samsung SyncMaster LCD, and they have shuffled some files or tweaked them somehow, I dunno. No nvidia result to be seen not even while being connected with analog cabling, go figure. By now I can speak up the whole suse and nvidia howtos out of the head, I can type those commands blindfolded just in the right spot, but the result is lousy to be at least. :lol: I think I just let it for now, do a last reinstall (I still have the separate /home pertition :D ) so it only takes a short while. Would be the only one of the installed trio without nvidia, but you can't have it all. Besides that, in a couple of weeks there 'll be another distro, either fedora 5 or suse 10.1 to play with.But my personal nr.1 was and is PClos. What a heck of a distro it is, just marbles. B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know I can not disagree with you last statement. :)I gave up on Suse with 9.3. It was a beauty. It just worked. I have yet to get any of the 10 series to work to my satisfaction. Between the wireless and other things it just lost what it had going. It also has so many things that are just done differently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well . . .I was reading the release notes of SUSE beta 5 last night:http://lists.opensuse.org/archive/opensuse...6-Feb/0010.htmlLet me quote a bit, remember it is beta 5 . . . not the first one but the 5th:

For now let me just point out the following issues: * The CD 1 needs to remain in the cd drive after installing from it. Do not remove it during the reboot and wait for YaST to request CD 2.. Otherwise the installation of packages from CD 2-5 will fail afterwards. * Due to the integration of the new package manager which is not complete, note the following: o Some statistics do not work, e.g. you see "Size of packages to install: 0" - or "Number of packages to install: 0", or "Software: Default system (0)". o The graphical package manager frontend has only a limited list of "views", currently you get a list of all the packages and can only search in them. o After installation, if you go into the YaST packager, all installed packages are listed twice. o Adding a new installation source does not work. o Language dependend packages are not handled correctly. This results in the installation of one package-$lang package but not necessarily the one for the languages asked for. o An upgrade from a previous installation might fail, even one from 10.1 Beta3 153142 * During an update from a previous release, packages that are not available anymore get deleted - once at the start of CD1 and then again at the end of CD1. Pressing Ignore a couple of times allows to continue. Bug 153135 * The partitioner is broken in some cases Bug 151947. which might result in: o mixed up filesystem types - for example one chooses ext2 and the partition is getting formatted with reiserfs o creates double or totally obscure entries within the fstab of the system o makes inproper proposals for a standard partitioning * Download of Release Notes will fail. * The online test with download of Updates will fail. * The second part of the installation is done in text mode Bug 153066. * X11 configuration during installation is totally broken in Beta5 due to a bug in package manager. Instead of the native X11 driver fbdev or even vesa driver will be configured. In order to create a valid X11 configuration stop xdm ("rcxdm stop") and use SaX2 for configuration ("sax2 -r"). ATI users should update the radeon driver first before executing SaX2. Otherwise the result will likely be a blank screen. Driver RPMs for i386/x86_64 are attached to Bug 153367.
What I mean is . . . how do they dare to release a beta ( 5 or any other number ) with so many really serious issues still unresolved ? What are they drinking there at SUSE headquaters ?:whistling: Bruno
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man o man, there should be a BIG warning out there and here at the ATL : for everybody who don't want to loose ..... of their machine. I know it's a beta and so it's not meant to be used on a production machine, but you know how enthousiastic people are. The last SuSE I was satisfied with was 9.1 Those releases after that I never saw due to circumstances. Now at 10.0 it just gives me questions : "why did they do this " and more such grieves. As said before, SuSE ain't SuSE nomore. And when I see the quote of those release notes, I'm led to believe to either get ASAP version 9.3 while I still can, or let SuSE go for the next few years, despite all rocket telling reviews that will be published after it goes final.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is bothering me is that these are not bugs found after the release of the beta . . . but that they release a beta knowing that it has a long list of showstopper bugs in it. Why not wait with beta 5 and fix these first ??And, with this one

* The partitioner is broken in some cases Bug 151947. which might result in: o mixed up filesystem types - for example one chooses ext2 and the partition is getting formatted with reiserfs o creates double or totally obscure entries within the fstab of the system o makes inproper proposals for a standard partitioning
You can potentially mess up all other installs on your test-computer . . . . . . :thumbsup::hysterical: Bruno
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, downloaded SuSE 9.3 and if I get time tonight I will try to install this one. I know - a bit old - but that doesn't mean it's bad or worthless. It was the last good SuSE we all knew. Let's see if I can get the multimedia circus running, forget about the nvidia driver : I don't care when it comes to SuSE. Regarding the MM I did my studying today in between of the downloads. And of course I'll have to get my dirty hands on the updates and make an update cd for it. All printed out how to do that. Something new to play with. ;)

Edited by striker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, got the 9.3 installed and fully adjusted to my likings. Added full multimedia support, works splendidly.Made the patch and update cd and added all necessary packages and libraries for the multimedia support.There's one thing left to do : solving the screensaver glitch which just gives me a black screen instead of the clock which it is set for. No, no nvidia here again : I've had it with that, this time my challenge was the multimedia support in which they succeeded to break it for a full 100 percent - and in which I succeeded in bringing it back into it for the full 100 percent. :) :thumbsup: Another goal has been reached.BTW : this 9.3 is so much better in many aspects than the newer 10.0 which is just a crippled suse version.No wonder all the old guys of suse are leaving...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Bruno.Next problems will be :- getting another hard disk drive- getting more distros willing to run on this machine ...and and ... yep, ' more dreams' to quote our friend Colin. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think Colin realizes the influence he has on folks here. :D He sure does teach us determination and dreams. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who knows, I only know I had my share of struggling with SuSE 10.0, and seeing the release notes for 10.1Beta, I believe it's no good to go with them right now. And believe me, it was not just the nvidia driver I was struggling with, it was a list of broken things one way or the other, either before doing the usual updates or just after doing them. My sympathy goes to Joe Barr who must feel abandoned now ! Last week I read somewhere people were leaving the company one after the other, because of - well who knows, maybe there will be a suse two or a susy q or whatever in the future when those people gather up together and start a new distro with the known quality of the old suse's. Only time will tell . It's always the same story : something good is being produced, then some giant company buys you out or takes you over. In practice it almost always comes down to skinning the cat before throwing it away, or in other words : get out of it what you can use now or later, and dump the rest. If you can't beat them with quality buy them out. :hysterical: And we as consumers are the crying third parties... "O my well beloved SuSE, what happened to ya, where did ya go" . As far as I'm concerned (at the moment) right through the toilet. Sorry.

Edited by striker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, on my SuSE 10 box I just have the yast taking forever with "official" Suse repositories issue and random kde crashes....but I don't have the nvidia or DVI(or VGA )issues. Go figure...I have to agree, 9.3 seems to be the last stable Suse out of the box. But it seems to me that they and a few others are really trying to push linux forward (as they define forward)and make everybody happy and edgy (is that really possible) rather than stabilize the product.But then again...it seems to me that the last year to 18 months have been rather explosive for the linux community in the area of development, from gcc to kde it seems like we have moved up 3 versions and the dust hasn't settled yet...And I don't know about anyone else but I seem to like playing in unsettled dust... :hysterical: Anyway, I think that's why I'm developing a whole new appreciation for Texstar and PClos and with Debain..seems more like a refined and scaled development and release process. In Debian's case almost to deliberate but for me always stable, yet texstar seems to be able to match the progressive nature of other distros without some of the growing pains.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I hope I was clear enough : Suse lost me completely as customer. (Yes, OK, those last two distros I downloaded, but before those I bought them boxed.) I have much more believe in PCLinuxOS right now and to a somewhat lesser extend Mandriva. Better say I'm PCLinuxed ! :hysterical: :hug:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I hope I was clear enough : Suse lost me completely as customer.I have much more believe in PCLinuxOS right now and to a somewhat lesser extend Mandriva. Better say I'm PCLinuxed ! :w00t: :hug:
Oh very clear :D can't say I blame ya either..Like that PCLinuxed :hysterical:
Here here! I must agree. Suse has lost me completely. I must admit I have not booted into Mandriva more than to do one update maybe since the last version came out. I think I have a 9.3 of Suse left on the tower. The laptop is PCLos and that other distro while the tower still has about 6 or 8 distros on it but only one I use. It is also windows free I think. :P I do have to keep windows somewhere for quicken and taxes. I won't take changes with wine or crossover for those. I prefer to drink my wine and I don't cross over. :D :hysterical:PCLinuxOS = :whistling: :w00t: :P :D :star:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope I dont get flogged for this but what do you really like about PCLinixOS? I've used the live version and it looks good no doubt, but not terribly different from Mandriva. This is not a bad thing so please dont take it the wrong way, just curious If I'm missing something? Ive been using Mandriva for quite a while and am looking for something a bit different to learn and use. - cybrmat

Link to comment
Share on other sites

cybrmat,

I hope I dont get flogged for this but what do you really like about PCLinixOS? I've used the live version and it looks good no doubt, but not terribly different from Mandriva. This is not a bad thing so please dont take it the wrong way, just curious If I'm missing something? Ive been using Mandriva for quite a while and am looking for something a bit different to learn and use.
No worry, we don't gonna skin you alive :D ...You see, you're partly correct. But there's one big but : you don't load say three different distros at the same time on your machine, it's a one at a time show. Then the obligatory adjusting and tweaking sessions begin.At that time you maybe want to load some extra packages and then it is about the time you either like that particular distro or not, or like one could also say 'you get hooked on it or not'. Technically speaking you're right, I've Mandriva 2006 Free on the machine too and now and then I'm using it. Other times I switch to SuSE 9.3 which I also run, but foremost I use PCLinuxOS or PClos like we use to call it. Some people have different other distros on the machine like say VectorLinux, they got hooked on that one, others use Slackware, there are quite a bunch of people who use Slackware and are hooked on that one. In other words, it's a personal preference one might develope during the use of a particular distro. And believe it or not, there are even people who load 200 or more distros on it one after another and simply just can't decide which one to dig into deeper.It's also a technical aspect with this : not every distro runs on every machine, some distros run but others run better. For me it's just PClos who runs best on this machine and I like the look and feel of it a bit more than that of Mandriva. Edited by striker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mandriva is for the masses. The beauty of PCLos is that it is a well supported, consumer-responsive distro. It works quite well. It started off when Texstar split from working on Mandrake (which became Mandriva). He took the basics of Mandrake and started to tweak it and make it work how he liked it. He made a live CD and folks just kept downloading it. Now there is a small core group that does the development. If you post a question at Tex, he responds. When I was having problems with a particular brand of keyboard and I had to use an adapter rather than run it as USB, he went out and bought that brand so he could test it. I call that support. He and his group do listen and work hard.Although it started as a Mandrake derivative it has left Mandrake through two years of different builders. The biggest different is Synaptic. I love it. I don't have to go to the MCC and so on to get to my updates. I go straight to Synaptic. I then see what can be updated, what is new, and what is obsolete and make my choices. It is wonderful.Do I sound like I love it? You are right. I started out with it as a secondary behind Gentoo. Then I started having problems that grew with Gentoo. It came time to rebuild my Gentoo. Guess what? I still have not done that because PCLos has everything I want. The PCLos forum started over in February. It already has over 1000 members and a bunch of posts. I can only keep up with one small section there. Take a look at the current episode here: http://www.systemtrash.com/We were waiting for them to really trash PCLos like they have other distros. They really did not find much to trash about it. The one guys USB problem was because he did something really dumb with how he set up his USB.The forum is here: http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to agree with Striker and Julia...I'm finding I can do more with PCLos out of the box (or out of the CD) than most distros. That doesn't mean any others are bad, hard or won't work...I use other distros and sometimes the machine dictates which distro...but as far as scope of usability (especially in newer machines) PCLos is my first choice...I think, like Striker said, that we tend to migrate to what works for us and our machines...maybe it's the distros choose us :D almost like a personality matchup :w00t: I guess really the coolest part is choice..if either the machine or I decide which distro to use..we get to make the decision, and it's not made for us.

Edited by BarryB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

cybrmat, I hope you did see no one here blamed you for asking that question. You're welcome if other questions arise, don't hesitate to ask them. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you StrikerFor SHARING the trials with Suse and like Julia I too found 9.3 to work on the Laptop before all the present saga.PCLos TOO NOW is my FAVOURITE and is the ONLY distro I WISH to PLAY :D withFrom so many DREAMS of orchestrating 4 Distros at the same time was TOO MUCH :P for these tired brain cells :w00t: Now as Julia and Bruno Have suggested STABLELIZE but MORE APPROPRIATELY to be happy with a SERENITY :hug: that was never ther trying so many distros.Now IT IS PCLOS ALL THE WAY :wub: Cheers for YearsColin :D :P and :hug: IT

Edited by kamicota
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...