Conqueror your Fear Factor (Novell Suse Linux 10.0)

Member Name: olly374

Product:	Novell Suse Linux 10.0
Date:	03/02/06 (747 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap or free operating system with lots of programs/packages included

Disadvantages: Configuration is needed

Suse Linux AG was the largest European based Commercial Linux Software Provider before Novell brought them in November 2003. The latest release version 10.0 came out in September 2005.

About Linux
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Linus Torvalds, a student in Finland, invented Linux in 1991. Linux consists of an operating system and a kernel. The source code for linux is available to the public, and can be freely used, modified and distributed.

A Linux distribution consists of the operating system, linux kernel and application software such as the desktop, browsers and office software. There are many different linux distributions out there. Some of them are free and some have to be paid for. Some linux distributions now fit onto a USB pen drive or a CD and can be used from this device instead of being installed on the hard disc of your computer.

With the introduction of Suse Linux 10.0, Novell has decided to produce a free distribution called openSuse (opensuse.org) and a paid for distribution. The difference between the paid for distribution and the free distribution is the applications software (also known as packages) that is included. Packages that are not included in the free version seem to include software such as RealPlayer and software made by companies such as IBM and Sun. The Suse Linux distribution also comes in both a 32-bit and a 64-bit version.

Installation
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My installation was an upgrade from Suse Linux 9.3. This upgrade was done on an Athlon XP2600 with 256MB of RAM, Radeon 9000 128MB graphics card, a 80GB hard disc, a DVD player and a CD-Recorder with a Netgear USB wireless Adaptor.

Most Linux installations are done on the same computer as a windows system. (I have done such installations in the past). To do such an installation you should first defragment your hard drive.

Whatever type of installation you are doing you firstly ensure that your machine can boot from your CD or DVD drive, then just stick the stick the installation DVD or CD in the computer and then reboot the machine.

A installation screen should appear which asks you whether you want to boot from the CD/DVD or from your hard disc. As you are doing an installation you should choose CD/DVD. You then follow the steps to configure your linux system in you chose your language and country from the list, press next then select whether you are doing an upgrade or new installation. You then just follow the steps until you have installed your system.

(Loading the packages can take up to 2 hours so go away and do something whilst this is going on.)

Once you have installed the packages you can either chose to configure your internet connection and download the updates. If you know the settings for your internet connection it is worth doing this step now otherwise skip this step. You then have the choice of selecting YAST configuration to appear once you reboot. Choose this options so you can ensure that your graphics card and monitor are set to the best settings.


I then had to configure my machine to get my wireless adaptor to work correctly. This was done by following the instructions written by a guy who calls himself Andrew D, who wrote a guide which is freely available on the internet.

Mailing list
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I started using Suse Linux at university and quickly discovered that there is a wealth of information on the web. Suse Linux has an English user Mailing list called Suse-linux-english whose archives you can search on marc.theaimsgroup.com or you can subscribe to at http://www.suse.com/us/private/support/online_help /mailinglists/. The mailing list can generate 200 emails a day so you should only subscribe to it if you can’t find your answer to the question in the archives. However this is rare.


Pros
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-Linux was developed as a multi-user system so that root gives other users permissions on what software or devices they have access to. This is great where children are involved as you can stop them accessing certain programs or even the internet. (This is different from windows where there are only 2 levels of users)
-Linux can be configured to suit the user and so can be used as a desktop computer, webserver, mailserver, music distribution server or printserver.
-Linux can be installed on old hardware without a graphical interface if needed.
-Suse Linux is one of the easiest systems to install, and if it is the latest distribution will recognise most devices such as USB pen drives with no hassle.
-Suse provides an online update where you can connect to a server and download software updates via YAST.
-If you have one copy of Suse Linux you can use it on as many machines as you own without breaching any copyright provisions.
-There are fewer viruses written for linux and for them to run the user has to have the right privledges
-The paid for version cost £38 if you have no friends who you can borrow the distribution of.

Cons
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-You have to be willing to configure your system to suit you and to do this you must be able to follow instructions step by step. (Strangely I find that most adults cannot do this.)
-Some hardware manufacturers e.g. Canon will not produce drivers for Linux. So you have to check that any hardware you choose is compatible before you buy it.
-Most major games are not produced for linux systems.
- You have to conqueror your fear factor. Most people are use to Windows machines so when they come across a UNIX distribution including Macs they are scared because it acts differently.

Summary: Cheap alternative operating system with lots of programs included

Variety of features:
Reliability:
User friendly: