What's the best free version of SUSE?

[Ralph Ellis]

James Knott wrote:
> Ivan Avery Frey wrote:
>   
>> If one were to install SUSE Linux, which the best free version?
>>     
>
> Define "best".
>   
I think that Suse 10.1 is the most complete version that they have out 
with the broadest hardware support. I have used Suse 10.0 before and 
they both work well, are stable and have a huge range of software 
bundled with them. Suse 10.1 also includes AppArmour and several anti 
virus options. The only thing that you need to watch out for in Suse  
10.1 is that the first version out of the gate had some problems with 
the zen package updater software. Just make sure to run Yast Online 
Update in the first few boots to get the appropriate fix for that. 
Alternatively, you could use the Smart program to do updates either 
directly or with Smart Gui or KSmart Tray in KDE.
If you have a reasonably powerful 3D video card, the Xgl eye candy with 
the 3D desktop is a real show stopper. If your card is not officially 
supported, there are some work arounds that you can find in Novell's 
Cool Solutions section. Search for nVidia and Xgl. nVidia cards seem to 
work better than ATI for the Xgl option but in either case you need the 
proprietary software drivers. Curiously, the ATI X300 to X800 seem to 
work pretty well with Xgl but the higher level cards are touchier at 
least until ATI sorts out driver issues.
I have always been impressed with Suse. You do have to do some work to 
maximize the multimedia options such as download Mplayer and get the 
Win32 codecs but these are fairly minor issues that are resolved quickly.
The OS supports 64bit with AMD and Intel, 32 bit pentiums and Power Pc.
Ralph Ellis
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gtalug.org/pipermail/legacy/attachments/20060624/5b4dde7d/attachment.html>