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SuSE Software Businesses Linux

SuSE Linux 9.3 Pro Released 46

InnerPhalanx writes "Today, SuSE Linux 9.3 Professional was released. After submitting the 9.2 update, I decided I should submit another article. The suggested retail price is $99.95 US. An update version is available for $59.95 US, in case you have an earlier version of SuSE Pro. More information, especially news about the product itself, is available here. As usual, there's a Live DVD release of SuSE 9.3 Pro as well as the 9.2 Pro Evaluation Version DVD ISO."
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SuSE Linux 9.3 Pro Released

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  • SuSE 9.2 Professional supports MP3 playback without any problems. I haven't used the standard version, but I've been using SuSE Pro for several versions now and MP3 support has always been there.
  • $99.95 USD? (Score:1, Redundant)

    by R.Mo_Robert ( 737913 )

    "The suggested retail price is $99.95 US." Isn't that a bit much, considering some other distros are free (free as in the kernel itself and the software typically built around it) or at least available for a reasonable price to cover the media, or at most the media and a reasonable support fee?

    I know this is the Pro version, but still. I'll stick with Ubuntu, Fedora, and the Personal Edition, thank you.

    • Fine. Then don't buy it. You're not really their target market anyways.

      Ubuntu is too unstable. Fedora is a moving target. If you're lucky, people won't yell at you if you ask for support in the IRC channels.

      With most Linux distros, people spend way too much time getting shit to work. SuSE Pro tends to work better then the free distros, and it comes with polished versions of Evolution, OpenOffice, Samba, Xen, etc.

      Some of us need to spend our time USING the software, not playing around.
      • Re:$99.95 USD? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Stevyn ( 691306 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @08:08PM (#12298493)
        Exactly. And if you're a business, $100 to spend now is to save in productivity from bleeding edge distros or Windows. That's their market. The TCO savings from linux doesn't come from the cost of the software, but from increased productivity.
        • And you only buy ONE copy... after that distribute it in your comany x1.000.000! Share it over apt-get or ftp or nfs etc... that will do the job of amortizing the one time investment in a nice thick manual that comes with SuSE 9.3
          • SuSE might already have such a mechanism available, and it may cost less then you setting up your own repository.

            If you're talking about 10 copies at $99 each, I'd have a hard time justifying any sort of home grown solution.

            Time is money.
        • Suse 9.* does not have enterprise level support. Novell Linux Desktop fills that niche nicely.
        • Considering what you get with some other software, $99 isn't too much for both CD and DVD media and printed documentation + tech support.
    • Suse Pro comes with the most excellent and useful printed manuals I have ever seen. Ever.

      The Suse manuals were absolutely invaluable when I was learning to use Linux, and are the primary reason I still buy the Suse Pro boxed set, instead of simply waiting a month and updating directly from their ftp site (which can also be mounted via nfs, if you like to swing that way).

      You see, about every 6-12 months some friend or family member decides they want to give Linux a try. At that point, I burn copies of the
      • Finally, a good explanation. Thank you. Too bad the moderators will probably never see it anymore.

        Speaking of moderators, I'm still trying to figure out why my original post was "Redundant" when it hadn't even been mentioned before (you know, sort of like those people who rate posts "Overrated" before they even have a rating?) ... I mean, I could understand "Flamebait" (even though it wasn't) but not "Redundant." :-) Oh, well...

        • I think the moderation instructions suggest reading posts in reverse order so you see newer comments first. I guess it's supposed to counter the first post advantage, but I think they forget sometimes when they get to the end and see the same post they've seen 15 times already that it was actually the first, and all the others were redundant.

  • I'm still perturbed (or insert stronger word) that they stopped supporting the PPC.
  • Student edition (Score:2, Insightful)

    I'm waiting for the student edition, same price as upgrade, but with the manuals. If I were suse/novell, I would be less strict with the versions that have odd numbers, and make people pay up if they want the even-numbered distros a couple of months before it hits the ftp server. Oh, and it is worth the cash, ubuntu is getting closer, but nothing can really rival suse on laptop-support.
    • I tend to disagree with you - I tried to install suse on my laptop and it locked up on the splash screen.

      went back to ubuntu - it installed without a hitch.
      and anything that comes with suse is just an apt-get away with ubuntu.

      so I would ubuntu does rival and surpass suse on laptop support.

      • and anything that comes with suse is just an apt-get away with ubuntu.

        Nope. The Suse boxed set usually includes some proprietary apps as well.

        Anyway, YMMV obviously. I've used Suse for years, and the only time I've had problems installing it was IIRC Suse 6.3 on an old Pacard Bell Pentium machine, and even then it was just that the video card was unsupported, anything non-graphical worked fine. I've never successfully booted one of their live CDs or DVDs, though.

  • How does charging for this comply with the GPL?

    I can see how they're allowed to charge for it, but aren't others also allowed to distribute Suse for free?
    • Re:GPL (Score:2, Informative)

      by mstandfest ( 654608 )
      actually, it is legal to distribute suse for free. i contacted them about a year ago about it. (i bought a box set of 9.0 pro and we wanted to install it on a box at work just for fun, and to hand out copies to my co-workers.) i eventually got in touch with their licensing/legal department and found out that it is ok. it's not legal to sell it because of the old YaST licensing, but it is legal to give copies away for free.
    • Re:GPL (Score:3, Informative)

      by Erik Hensema ( 12898 )
      How does charging for this comply with the GPL?

      I can see how they're allowed to charge for it, but aren't others also allowed to distribute Suse for free?

      The DVD edition of suse pro also includes some commercial software which can't be distributed. The FTP version (available in a month or two) won't include that software and will be completely free to distribute.

    • How does charging for this comply with the GPL?

      Try actually reading the GPL yourself. You clearly don't understand it.

      aren't others also allowed to distribute Suse for free?

      They can and do.

  • I own 9.2. Do I need that installed on a machine before I upgrade to 9.3? Anyone know?
    • I haven't tried 9.3 yet but for all previous releases the only differences between Pro and Upgrade were that the Upgrade has fewer printed manuals (which are on cd/dvd anyway) and 60 rather than 90 days installation support. I believe the cds/dvds are the same. So if 9.3 follows the same approach the answer to your questions would be: No, and Yes.

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