06.28.08

Do-No-Evil Saturday – Part I: OpenSUSE 11.0, The Week After

Posted in GNU/Linux, OpenSUSE, Review at 5:16 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

The coverage from last week, which mostly comprised pointers, ought to be made a little more complete with the addition of the following:

Release Announcements

Desktop Linux: OpenSUSE 11.0 arrives

The OpenSUSE Project has achieved a new release of its free desktop and server distribution. OpenSUSE 11.0 features a redesigned installer, KDE 4.0, GNOME 2.2.2, and the flashy Compiz Fusion 3D window manager, and over 200 new features.

Linux Insider: OpenSuse Rolls Out Feature-Packed Version 11.0

The OpenSuse project serves as a foundation for other Novell developments. The company is planning to use the open source system to create future Linux products.

Life Hacker: OpenSUSE 11.0 Integrates Compiz into Linux Desktop

OpenSuse 11.0, the latest release of the Novell/AMD-sponsored Linux distribution, has hit the download servers.

GCN: New 11.0 openSuSE Linux OS released

Version 11.0 GM of the openSuSE Linux-based operating system has been publicly released. The open source OS, sponsored by Novell, contains “200 new features,” improved installation and packaging, plus a few options for the desktop user interface.

Heise Online: OpenSuse 11 is here

As planned, the developers of the OpenSuse Linux distribution issued Version 11 on Thursday.

Linux Insider (again): Ode to Summer With Wine and OpenSuse

The rapid-fire releases of Wine 1.0 and OpenSuse 11.0 were cause for much elation and — of course — discussion within the FOSS community. Linux lovers were pleased that Wine finally is seeing the light of day after 15 years in development, though some wondered whether it’s too late to do any good.

Timothy Prickett Morgan at IT Jungle: openSUSE 11.0 Out the Door and On the Street

If you want to get a sneak peek at some of the features that will eventually be delivered as part of Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 variants for servers and PCs, you can now get it from the openSUSE project, the development effort that creates the code that eventually makes its way into the commercialized SLES and SLED releases. That’s because openSUSE 11.0 is now available.

Francis Giannaros at KDE’s Dot: openSUSE 11.0 Released with KDE 4.0.4

While KDE 4.1 did not manage to make it into openSUSE 11.0, its packages will be available via 1-click-install in the openSUSE Build Service. You can track KDE4′s development by using the regularly updated KDE 4 snapshot packages. The openSUSE-based KDE Four Live CD will be based on openSUSE 11.0 in future releases.

There are some more short ones from CNET, Linux Journal, TechSpot, and from other places that apparently just tweaked the press release. You can find this press release even in LinuxPR.

Reviews/Experiences

Linux.com (Susan Linton): Kudos to openSUSE 11.0

Overall, 11.0 is a commendable release. The developers have done an admirable job walking that fine line between stable and bleeding edge. If you like the latest software or wish for a nice usable KDE 4, then openSUSE 11.0 is for you. If you’re completely happy with 10.3, well, perhaps you might want to wait for further reports.

Ladislav appears to be an OpenSUSE user.

Distro Watch: From Fedora 9 to openSUSE 11.0

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised with openSUSE 11.0. Perhaps the only area where it lacks in comparison with Fedora 9 is its font setup; on my LCD monitor I find the default fonts looking absolutely gorgeous on all recent Fedora and Mandriva releases, but it takes a lot of experimentation and tweaking on most other distribution to get the same effect. Other than that, openSUSE 11.0 looks good and feels solid, and I expect being a satisfied openSUSE user for the next six months.

andrewpoots.wordpress.com: OpenSuse 11 – First Impressions

All in all… good solid distro so far although I think I’m probably going to leave compiz-fusion switched off on my test machine… will try it on another machine with a better graphics card to see if experience improves… I still think OpenSuse is the best linux distro out there and makes for a great free download!

crazythinking.wordpress.com: First impressions about OpenSuSE 11.0

It is really great! Very responsive, fast, beautiful.

Compiz-fusion effects are really nice to have. And the desktop feels more integrated.

allajunaki.wordpress.com: openSUSE 11

Oh, did I mention? I installed the LiveCD to the HDD, it was really simple, once the liveCD was up and running, u just need to click ‘install’ on desktop, and in 15 odd mins (on my lappy) , it made a copy of SUSE in my HDD.

skywake-andstuff.blogspot.com: openSUSE 11.0

I do know at some point I will have to open up a terminal to setup my TV tuner card and media card reader. I also know that I will probably never get my firewire port or dial-up modem to work (but who cares). Overall however I must say that this version of openSUSE is the closest thing to an out of the box OS this side of OSX.

sunnytalkstech.blogspot.com: Review: openSuSE 11.0

You can’t miss the ease of use and the sleek looks that openSuSE 11.0 brings to the desktop. Its the perfect distro for a new user coming to linux. For the old pros, openSUSE 11.0 is fast and brings in ease of administration and software installation.

reddevil62-techhead.blogspot.com: A Quick Appraisal: Xfce in OpenSUSE 11.0

From an aesthetic point of view openSUSE’s Xfce is borderline acceptable and it certainly brings the speed boost I was hoping for.
But if they’re going to offer Xfce as a login option, then openSUSE could do more to make it useable.
In its present state Xfce is very much the poor relation among openSUSE 11.0′s desktop environments.

linuxgraphics.studiofire.net: Opensuse 11 Released and First Impressions

If you’re looking to see where one of the top Linux Distros is heading, then be sure to check out openSuse 11. While it doesn’t seem to have the polish that 10.3 had, once the updates start rolling down the line, it will definately be one of the best distros out there, in my opinion.

ruminationsonthedigitalrealm.org: OpenSUSE 11.0 beats Vista, Leopard and Ubuntu hands down

Yes, this mother of all Linux distributions will be responsible for the utter demise of Microsoft, Apple and will create an immensity of spare time for all maintainers of other distributions. By all means an achievement worthy of it’s own wikipedia entry.

Disclaimer: this article was written at the speed of typing. I didn’t actually think about it. Of course, I can not be held responsible for the truthfulness of the statements.This isn’t a review, I simply wondered how much superlatives it needs to satisfy the ones who become angry at an article that more realistically describes their favorite Linux distribution. But, truly, OpenSUSE is worth a look.

ruminationsonthedigitalrealm.org (beforehand): OpenSUSE 11.0 on Acer Aspire 3681 WXMi

The second issue was getting wifi up and running. The solution was found and after following the suggestions I could go online without an ethernet cable attached to my laptop.

The issues I had with the software repositories and the ugly fonts were gone with this regular install. I could add the multimedia support almost without a problem (it had to be repeated twice to get everything).

Susan Linton also published a comparison between Mandriva and OpenSUSE:

Battle of the Titans – Mandriva vs openSUSE: The Rematch

Last fall when the two mega-distros openSUSE and Mandriva both hit the mirrors, it was difficult to decide which I liked better. In an attempt to narrow it down, I ran some light-hearted tests and found Mandriva won out in a side-by-side comparison. But things change rapidly in the Linux world and I wondered how a competition of the newest releases would come out. Mandriva 2008.1 was released this past April and openSUSE 11.0 was released just last week.

crunchbang.org: openSUSE 11, a quick look

I have not been using the system long enough to make any solid conclusions; however, from what I have experienced so far, openSUSE 11 is definitely worth a look. If I was not so attached to APT, I would maybe consider keeping it installed. Having said that, it really is not too difficult to set-up Ubuntu to mimic and take advantage of the features I like in openSUSE.

It has come to the stage now where not so many OpenSUSE 11.0 reviews are published. Surely, however, there will be many more next week. █

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