Normally I’m a total Debian guy, but for one of my projects I needed a certified linux os to the bought hardware.
So I decided to look at the market and there are just two systems I can use.
Redhat & SuSE SLES10
As this makes no different for me, I decided to give SuSE another shot.
The last version I worked with, was 7.1 or something like that.
I thought SuSE / Novell decided to change their update service and configuration tool YAST.
But what a surprise. NOTHING CHANGED.
It’s the same crap then 5 years ago. Big shot guys!
The update service costs a lot of money per year. Money YOU pay for opensource software packages!!! In times where datatransfer costs only cents, this could not be the reason.
Then I tried to install some basic packages.
And guess what, there are only basic-basic packages in yast.
One example is subversion. subversion is MISSING.
They don’t have to subversion in SUSE SLES 10 as RPM Package.
There is this old big brother cvs, but no svn.
Hello, good morning at SUSE. Every normal software development company is using svn. This is more than a standard package.
But, hey there is something good. You can download the package from Novell. Guess how you can get it? With svn!
Hello author,
I work for Novell, and just happened across your blog post. I wanted to make a few comments, and since you haven’t used SUSE in a while - perhaps you just aren’t aware of some of these things.
Novell has it’s “enterprise Linux distribution” which is called SUSE Linux Enterprise and we have a “free” version called openSUSE. The enterprise version comes in server, desktop, and other flavors which are called SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED), etc. respectively. These enterprise versions do not have the cutting edge packages, and may not have all the packages you want (eg. subversion), but rather ones that are “enterprise ready, tested and supported”. That means not only has it gone thru extensive testing and is supported by Novell, but it also means that Novell partners (IHVs, ISVs, etc.) will also support their products running on top of the enterprise version… thus your original challenge.
The “free” version of SUSE is now called openSUSE. It has gone thru several name changes over the years… SUSE Linux, SUSE Linux Professional, and now openSUSE. If you are using a version of SUSE that has a “dot” extension (eg, 7.1, 8.2, 9.3, 10.3), that’s probably more aligned with openSUSE, than with the Enterprise version. The current version of openSUSE is 10.3 and can be downloaded for free at http://www.opensuse.org. As a free, community release, it does not have any enterprise support from Novell - although there is a large openSUSE community to get help from. However, there are TONS more applications and packages that ARE included in openSUSE that are not included in SUSE Linux Enterprise (including subversion). From your blog post, it sounds like you had used a predecessor to openSUSE in the past, but are comparing it to the enterprise version which is not really an apples-to-apples comparison.
Hopefully that explains the differences for you.
As an extra suggestion, you might also take a look at the openSUSE Build Service. It automatically builds packages for numerous OSS packages and several common Linux distributions. If you need a package, like subversion, which is not included in SLES - you might be able to find a package for it at the build service. It’s not supported by Novell technical support in an official capacity, but it can save yourself a lot of frustration and legwork. In fact, subversion pre-packaged for SLES is indeed there. You can look here to search for subversion for SLES or other distros: https://build.opensuse.org/
Regards, Kevin
To Kevin:
His complaints are just the tip of the iceberg with SLES. I can name a number of other terrible terrible terrible aspects that come with SLES. I’ll name a few:
No backports of patched problems:
-Broadcom NIC driver in SLES10 SP1 still takes up tp 60 seconds to start. Great, you fixed it in SP2, what about SP1?
-when using AutoYaST to install SLES10SP1 if you use an ask-list entry to obtain the root password you had best not type it wrong, or you get to start the whole istall over, because it will not reprompt for a password, and will not set a root password… oh sure you can run a rescue disc and fix it, but it’s just as fast to restart the install. Fixed in SP2, still no fix with SP1.
Does LTS (Long Term Support) mean anything to you guys, besides taking your customers money?
Support you pay for sucks:
We had a server here where all X apps (as well as Xorg itself) where failing with errors about shared object library files not being found, libXau.so.6 being one… Our guys opened a ticket with Novell a month ago. They still have it listed as a bug and have no resolution. My boss asked me the other day to take a look at the server (it’s not maintained by my group); all I had to do is run ldconfig to recreate /etc/ld.so.cache. Still waiting for Novell support to figure that out. Don’t people pay so that when they hit these odd problems they can get a quick resolution? If you’re just going to label it a bug and not look into it, what the hell are we paying for?
Cool Solutions are trash:
No one is cleaning these things up, marking them for what versions of software apply, etc. Go look for intructions on how to use the Add On Creators, mirror packages locally, etc. You go out, find a cool solution that links to an rpm that is so out of date it no longer works even remotely. You acn’t rely on ANYTHING you read in that pile of bull ****.
Novell still has not figured out how to use all the tools at hand:
Speaking of your cool solutions, wouldn’t it be so much better than linking to a couple hundred broken and outdated rpm’s to create a repository for Novell developed tools, etc. mentioned in the cool solutions, so that if people are so inclined to download the software packages mentioned on your website in all 1,001 random places they can simply subscribe, zypper install , and feel confident that they have the latest version? Instead you have to get this version, that, or the other that _may_ work, but probably doesn’t. Need an example? Here you go:
yast2-add-on-creator-2.15.21-11.noarch.rpm, available at:
http://software.opensuse.org/search?baseproject=openSUSE:10.3&p=1&q=yast2-add-on-creator
for SLES10SP2 (The newer version yast2-add-on-creator-2.17.1-2.3.noarch.rpm will fail with a segmentation fault on SLES10SP2)
DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE VERSION LINKED FROM THIS PAGE. IT IS BROKEN!
http://developer.novell.com/wiki/index.php/Creating_Add-On_Media_with_YaST
THIS VERSION IS ONLY ACCEPTABLE FOR SLES10 SP1 (yast2-add-on-creator-2.13.3-1.1.noarch.rpm)
Do you see where a repository for appropriate versions for each OS, etc. would clear up some serious headaches? This is an just assinine headache. And the only way I know is from brutal back and forth attempts with each.
Novell loooks at SLES as a way to sell software to you:
Want centralized patching, no that’s not included in support, BUY ZLM (ZENworks Linux Management) on top of your support contract, and so on. Here comes the Novell lockin…
OpenSuSE/SLES are not the problem in and of themselves; the fact that Novell is stomping around playing in their guts with no idea which direction they’re headed is the problem. You should be absolutely ashamed with what you are doing to the distribution.