Server Distributions

[Rich Edelman]

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