Should I upgrade or change distros?
 

:newbie: I am using SuSe 8.2 and have just managed a good install and all my peripherals are functioning well, however, it has been brought to my attention that SuSE has introduced ver. 9.1 which includes the new kernel. Is it advisable to upgrade and how important is this new release? Also, it seems there is not much discussion in these forums concerning SuSE, should I consider another distro such as Debian or Mandrake and why? Any comments or suggestions on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I have a very nice 9.0 suse installed and I'm also afraid of trashing the machine while updating. I'm still gathering opinions on it. In fact, I used a set of 9.1 cd's to install on a extra hdd, to check it. The system is very nice, but I still hesitate on updating my 9.0.
Well, the importance is the new stuff on 9.1. Kernel 2.6 is said to be faster than 2.4. Kde 3.2 is very nice indeed. Gnome 2.4, and a lot more.

Another distro, well, depends on your needs. What do you want to do?

I've had Red Hat 7.2 running smoothly on my machine for the past few years, but for a variety of reasons I've thought its time for me to upgrade. I'd like to next distro to take me out another couple of years. I considered most of the major distros, but decided that SuSE 9.1 probably fits my needs best - so I ordered it. It comes with a ton of software already (I have a modem connection) as well as the new 2.6 kernel, which is supposedly faster and has better multimedia/DVD support.

While waiting for my SuSE 9.1 to come in the mail, I wanted to check out the 2.6 kernel. Mandrake 10 comes with the new 2.6 kernel, so I installed it on my 400MHz. KDE in Mandrake 10 is definitely faster on my machine than KDE in Red Hat 7.2.

Yes, indeed, suse comes with A LOT of softwares. Here's my hint: while installing, go to package selection and choose detailed selection. Then click and open every category and choose every package from the groups you need most. I did a thorough installation with every package possible from multimedia, kde, gnome, kernel development... And all (well, almost all...) my compilations work, I have kde, gnome, openbox, blackbox, enlightenment, windowmaker and icewm installed. I'm completely happy with the system.

Upgraded and everything is good
 

I upgraded my linux MP3 server from SuSE 9.0 to SuSE 9.1 which although was a little scary, but since it was just a music server and all the software was from sourceforge.com that I could rebuild it in SuSE 9.0 I decided to upgrade anyway. I finished it in a night and didn't have to reinstall anything. JReceiver and Trio came right up after boot. I agree that the kernal is faster and I haven't found any problems with the system so far. It has only been a week using the system but I haven't had any major problems yet.

Thanks,
Keith Possinger

I do not "upgrade" my Linux installations. I have enough partitions to do a clean install.
I had an FTP install of SUSE 9.0 on a smaller partition. It worked fine. I purchased the SUSE 9.1 Professional upgrade and installed it to a larger partition.
Generally works fine. There is some issue with USB. Manual mount works fine, but the automount is flakey. You could have problems with keybooards or mice if you have USB.
I also do not feel a big need to upgrade with every version. I tend to prefer to run for a year or so on a default system.
I ran Mandrake 8.0 for over a year, even with other versions coming out. Just kept up with the security updates.
If there are still security updates available for your installed 8.2 and it is working fine you may wish to keep using it. If you have a spare partition you may want to try a 9.1 FTP install or even download the 9.1 live CD. Ditto to trying other distros.
There are lots of good distros depending on your tastes.
Good Luck.

Overall I am very pleased with my 8.2 install. I decided not to upgrade when 9.0 was released because it wasn't shipped with the 2.6 kernel which I heard was a big update. I just didn't expect 9.1 to release so soon. My computing needs are fairly simple since I am not a gamer. Simple office work and the like which AbiWord and Open Office handle quite nicely, dial up internet connection but most important to me is graphics. I am heavy into digital photography and had heard that the new kernel was faster and better suited. I had also been told that there has been a pretty major upgrade to The Gimp which is my photo imaging software of choice (however I have read it may be possible to run Photoshop 7.0 in W.I.N.E.~this intigues me :) As far as considering another distro, I wasn't sure if I was missing out on anything or not and for such a large community here there seemed to be considerably less discussion of SuSE compared to say Mandrake or Debian.

That was one of my main reasons for waiting on SUSE 9.1 also.

As far as running Photoshop in Wine, there is always the
Codeweavers option.

Cool, Thanks 2damncommon, I'll check out codeweavers!