Does SUSE 9.2 Pro really suck?

I was just wondering... I am trying to figure out which distro i like the best, and has finally narrowed it down to SUSE 9.2 and MDK 10.1. I first tried MDK 10.1 for a while, but i got tired of the rpm-drake crashing. And after updating to KDE 3.3.2 openoffice refused to run (segmentation fault).
So i decided to try SUSE 9.2 Pro. Wow this rocks! The yast thing makes updating software easy, and gives great control of your hardware. Only error was that my monitor didnt suspend (probaply some acpi thing). The only downside is that (i think) it is hard to find packages for 9.2 (for example a working wxbase for amule).
But i will just try and compile one instead.
So i thought i would buy a copy of SUSE 9.2, but...

While reading different forums i found that people where complaining about suse 9.2 being the most unstable and buggy suse ever released. If this is so i wont buy this product. Can anyone here confirm this? Have i just been lucky or does suse 9.2 really suck?

And yes i am a 100% GUI person (maybe i should just settle with XP).

One of the developers of amule helped me with the dependency problem. wxBase is one of these files (you may need the other two as well).

http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=25
http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=26
http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=28

SuSE 9.2 is much less buggy than SuSE 9.1. I can't speak about other distros, because I've hardly tried any of them. But I can say that Mandrake and Fedora seemed even buggier than SuSE on my first impression, which is why I chose SuSE.

Now that my nearly half-year long search for a solution to sync my Palm has ended, I can say that I am extremely satisfied overall with SuSE 9.2. If I could have chosen any Linux from the beginning, I might have chosen Gentoo or Debian, based on what I hear of their easy software installs (although the initial install is difficult). But for user friendly distros, SuSE trumps them all--I wouldn't even consider Red Hat, Fedora, or Mandrake.

I can't fault it myself. I hope it stays SuSE and doesn't go the way of windows.

Originally posted by apachedude One of the developers of amule helped me with the dependency problem. wxBase is one of these files (you may need the other two as well). http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=25 http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=26 http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=28 SuSE 9.2 is much less buggy than SuSE 9.1. I can't speak about other distros, because I've hardly tried any of them. But I can say that Mandrake and Fedora seemed even buggier than SuSE on my first impression, which is why I chose SuSE. Now that my nearly half-year long search for a solution to sync my Palm has ended, I can say that I am extremely satisfied overall with SuSE 9.2. If I could have chosen any Linux from the beginning, I might have chosen Gentoo or Debian, based on what I hear of their easy software installs (although the initial install is difficult). But for user friendly distros, SuSE trumps them all--I wouldn't even consider Red Hat, Fedora, or Mandrake.

Hey thanks for the tip, i will try it out later today. Gotta get amule back online.

I'm also a newbie to linux. I've tried a number of distributions including Fedora, Knoppix, Linise, Mandrakelinux, Novell Linux Desktop and Suse. As much as I liked Mandrake, it drove me crazy with rpm problems. I am running SUSE 9.2 and Novell Linux Desktop. The more familiar I become with SUSE (novell) the more I like it. Stick with SUSE 9.2 it will grow on you.

Suse doesn't suck at all. Your best bet is to try a few distros and the pick one that you prefer.

I just completed the SuSE 9.2 ftp install, and it went beautifully. I had previously had 9.1, and despite what I've heard about upgrades, I have not had any problems.

RPMS are not hard to find. Just find a good mirror site and maybe another site with extra packages (like Packman's) and add them to your YaST sources. That will allow you to have quick and easy installs of just about any software.

On the rare occassions that I haven't found rpms, I just compile from source and then checkinstall (instead of make install, to make the rpms myself).

Do NOT believe everything that you read! I run both Slackware (v10.0) and SUSE (v9.2) and I read a lot of forum posts in order to find information when I run into a problem I can't figure out myself. In almost every case of some problem incurred by someone attempting to run any particular distro, the most prevalent problem actually begins when the person has attempted to wing it and install/run a distro without so much as reading any installation information and/or knowing what hardware they actually own. These people cry foul for no reason other than their own pure laziness. You want to run WinBloz then do it; else, settle down, READ and then proceed. I've been using Linux for 10 years now and though it has its issues, Windows has them too if you don't take the time and learn!

[EDIT] Additional note, the forums provide users with a wealth of knowledge but also it can provide a lot of missteps. If possible, try to find multiple resources in regards to a particular issue and then formulate a plan of action from all that you read. Know too, there are other forums to read from and gleam help. Try Google for answers and locations of other websites that may provide answers to your problems. There is information for most everything, just have to do a little legwork sometimes. Linux will provide you with a great OS but only if you are willing to make it so.

FYI: I installed SUSE 9.2 via FTP onto a Gateway SOLO5300 and encountered no install issues what-so-ever. The only thing that really sucks (through no fault of anyone else but myself for not purchasing the box set) is the length of time for the install even though I have a 3MB DSL connection and using a local US mirror site in GA.

I'm a SuSE 9.1 user (Pro Edition),... absent the improvements in ACPI, I really don't see any motivation to swtich. That said,... even if SuSE 9.1 is considered "buggy", I'd take that bugginess over Windoze bugginess any day of the week.

I've heard about nothing but good things with SuSE 9.2. Some people don't like SuSE's bloat,... but you can always streamline your system to run fewer packages and services by default.

Originally posted by apachedude One of the developers of amule helped me with the dependency problem. wxBase is one of these files (you may need the other two as well). http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=25 http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=26 http://www.amule.org/files/download.php?file=28 SuSE 9.2 is much less buggy than SuSE 9.1. I can't speak about other distros, because I've hardly tried any of them. But I can say that Mandrake and Fedora seemed even buggier than SuSE on my first impression, which is why I chose SuSE. Now that my nearly half-year long search for a solution to sync my Palm has ended, I can say that I am extremely satisfied overall with SuSE 9.2. If I could have chosen any Linux from the beginning, I might have chosen Gentoo or Debian, based on what I hear of their easy software installs (although the initial install is difficult). But for user friendly distros, SuSE trumps them all--I wouldn't even consider Red Hat, Fedora, or Mandrake.

Wheee!! It works! Amule is running like a charm. Thanx alot. And yes im becoming quite fond of suse. The only problem i have run into is the monitor standby function isnt working after i updated the nvidia driver through yast. Wonder if i should install the one from the nvidia site instead

I bought 9.2 & found it ran with only a few issues - modem not supported on the install disk (but I found & downloaded the driver easily enough)sound on alsa has to be unmuted every boot (common with AC'97, so I am led to believe), QuickCam Messenger isn't supported (not my particular version of it, anyway, and then not a problem with the distro) I had to download new versions of xine & mplayer to get the majority of codecs to work and whatever I do the monitor turns off after 20 minutes of inactivity. (Iiyama VM Pro 450)

Not bad for an ASRock motherboard machine which by all accounts isn't a favourite with linux users.

I quite like it. It certainly doesn't suck.

For packages:
Guru's SuSE RPM site:
http://linux01.gwdg.de/~pbleser/index.php

Packman's RPM site:
http://packman.links2linux.org/

Both have RSS feeds and both can be added as YAST sources, too.

I certainly find SUSE 9.2 buggier than 9.1, but it's in shades of grey - small, annoying things that add up. I started out on Mandrake and abandoned it because of RPM issues.

I then moved to Fedora, but had network issues. All distros are quirky - you just have to find one that fits your quirks. I landed on SuSE and have stayed (trying to leave for Ubuntu but coming back because it's Gnome-based).

I think if you really want to avoid RPM issues, Ubuntu or another Debian-based distros might be for you.

For now, I'm quite pleased with SuSE and very pleased with its direction.

Rory

I'm happy with SuSE.
The bugs seem to get ironed out in the months after a release, & there are often lots of comments saying "this distribution is so much worse than the previous one" each time there's a new release.

I have tried Gentoo, Mandrake, SUSE, Slackware, Red Hat, Turbolinux and even Linux From Scratch. I have also tried FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Solaris. In my opinion, I find that the best out-of-the-box Linux distribution is SUSE despite any quirks that are sometimes encountered with specific hardware. I find that SUSE has the best installation program hands-down.

I also find that people always seem to say that a distribution sucks when it doesn't work with their hardware. This usually happens because each Linux distribution uses a different default Linux kernel configuration. You will find that if hardware works with a kernel configuration on one particular Linux distribution, it may not work with a kernel configuration on another Linux distribution. This fact often influences the decisions people make about what Linux distribution they choose to use.

Here are some of my ideas for Linux:

- Grsecurity-enabled kernels with hardened toolchains and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) out-of-the-box
- A more proactive approach to security and integrated cryptography (OpenBSD boasts "Only one remote hole in the default install, in more than 8 years!")
- Common/standardized default kernel configuration for all Linux distributions with a controlled process for approving/rejecting Linux distribution-specific kernel patches
- Common/standardized installation program API for all Linux distributions after a thorough review and recommendations by the Linux community

Imagine having a common installer, kernel configuration and security features no matter what Linux distribution you choose to use. Imagine being able to report issues back to a collective of Linux distribution kernel maintainers and have them create fixed ISOs promptly instead of having to wait for the next release of a Linux distribution just to get it to work with your hardware. Finally, imagine being able to boast that Linux works on as many platforms as NetBSD and perhaps even more.

Um.. blsailb...
"- A more proactive approach to security and integrated cryptography (OpenBSD boasts "Only one remote hole in the default install, in more than 8 years!")
- Common/standardized default kernel configuration for all Linux distributions with a controlled process for approving/rejecting Linux distribution-specific kernel patches
- Common/standardized installation program API for all Linux distributions after a thorough review and recommendations by the Linux community
"

Exceptfor the BSD quote, you just described windows.
A lot of linux users prefer it be a little complicated. Complicated means you can do a lot to it if you want to or have the know how. The more "standard" it becomes, the more you lose the ability to make it your own.

Though it would be nice to see a system like gentoo's portage in more distros. It is pretty handy.