SuSE 6.1 Release Date Announced

Gracchus writes "SuSE has announced they will release the Euro edition of ver. 6.1, with the expected inclusion of the Linux kernel 2.2.3, XFree86 3.3.3.1, KDE 1.1 and GNOME 1.0, on April 12th, with the North American version scheduled for May release. This page is in German, but you non-Deutschlanders can get yer translations at Babelfish . Watch "permissions" get translated to "Permian eating ions"! Can I get fries with that? "

Cool..

[drwiii]

Seeing as how I've only tried Slackware and Redhat so far, maybe it's time to "play the field"..

I do.

[gavinhall]

Posted by FascDot Killed My Previous Use:

I like Linux because it fits my "political" (actually, social) views. And I use it because I like it.

The important stuff is free

[TedC]

I've heard that SuSE, like Caldera, is semi-proprietary

Some of the utils like Yast (and maybe Caldera Lizard?) have additional restrictions, but all of the important stuff (kernel, compiler, etc.) is free.

BTW, I really like that yellow graphic on the SuSE 6.1 box; hopefully they'll update their t-shirts to match. :-)

TedC

That's not the point. SuSe is cruel and commercial

[TedC]

They gave Yast a non-free license so poeple couldn't just copy their cd's or make suse-based distributions easily.

Is that really true? I've seen $1.98 SuSE CDs at Linux Mall, so they're must be some way around it. In any case, a setup/configuration tool is a relatively minor thing, and is easily replaced.

TedC

SuSE non-free?

[Ed Avis]

I've heard that SuSE, like Caldera, is semi-proprietary. In particular, the setup tool, YaST, is proprietary.

If this is true, I'm surprised there hasn't been more noise about it. It seems the only distributions that are truly committed to free software are Red Hat and Debian (and maybe Slackware).

So?

[Ed Avis]

I don't have a problem with including proprietary software as part of a Linux distribution, provided it is clearly marked as such. I was worried that SuSE had made the core installation and setup tools proprietary. Red Hat release everything they write as free software, so people can make distributions based on Red Hat - and that's a good thing. But it's not so good if distribution writers hoard things to themselves.

Nope, YaST is non-free

[Ed Avis]

This from the YaST licence:

It is forbidden to reproduce or distribute data
carriers which have been reproduced without
authorisation for payment without the prior
written consent of SuSE GmbH or SuSE Linux.
Distribution of the YaST programme, its sources,
whether amended or unamended in full or in part
thereof, and the works derived thereof for a
charge require the prior written consent of SuSE
GmbH.

So SuSE is not free, because you can't sell copies. This seems to be a step backwards into the dark ages when Linux distributions were considered proprietary. (eg SLS)

In fact, the YaST licence is no more free than the so-called 'new copyleft' licence discussed on Slashdot a few days ago. I don't morally object to proprietary software, but it seems a little odd for supposedly Open Source(tm) companies to make their own products non-Open Source.

ah, shut up!

[belbo]

Are you some kind of Spanish Inquisition? Lars Wirszenius wrote his page on Notepad. It's not *what* you use but *how* you use it.

belbo

Old News, SuSE normally late

[belbo]

Hm. I am a longterm user of S.u.S.E. (yeah, hit me) and never encountered any delays except from 6.0, which was because more than half of the staff fell victim to an influenza.
At least it seems very unfair to me to compare them to Microsoft. Their users would be happy if MS's delays could be counted in *weeks*.

JM2C

belbo

That's not the point. SuSe is cruel and commercial

[erikl]

You need to get SuSE:s permission to redistribute YaST in another distribution, basically. Look at /usr/lib/YaST/COPYRIGHT.english.

I like SUSE 6.0 better then redhat

[DaMan]

This is just my 2 cents.
I just as in saterday 3/20 installed suse6.0 and i like it alot better than rh5.1 but it did take a lot longer to install they had more packeges to select. Within 30 min of instlall i had upgraded to 2.2.3 kern and set up x windows and my modem and all that stuff.


--
Joshua Curtis
Lancaster Co. Linux Users Group

So?

[orcrist]

Rabid anti-commercialism may be fine for the leaders of the revolution but the peasants still have to eat (excuse my rather tortured metaphor)... the point is S.u.S.E. does a very good job of combining a relatively user-friendly installation with an excellent book (which is practically worth the price alone for a newbie) without sacrificing depth.
Now, I'm not saying that S.u.S.E. is for the expert, but I've found that almost all the stuff I need is right there on the CD's and here in Germany the cost of downloading even a fraction of that content is easily more than what they're asking for their distro, so what's the problem? Do you think the Linux movement is HARMED by a distro where a newbie can get his feet (or whole body) wet? Yes, there is proprietary software on the CD's. It's grouped under 'PAY'. ummm... that sounds pretty well seperated to me. And it's not like you can't copy the CD's to share with your friends: The commercial stuff is all demos, just like you could download from the appropriate web-sites. So what you get is the chance to try the stuff out (or not) without having to waste your time downloading it.
Are you gonna stop buying computer magazines that have free demos in them which you're free to throw away? So chill a bit, use Redhat if that gets you off, and save your bullets for the companies that are really hoarding programming knowledge (that's what the thing's about, right?) Or do you think that S.u.S.E. is planning to become the Microsoft of installation programs (Horrors!)

Chris Kuhi

Give SuSE a try!

[balrog]

I'm a happy SuSE user :-)

With 5(!) cds you can choose exactly (pretty much anyway) how you want your system! Plus you save yourself a lot of downloading time!

It figures

[Techno_Jesus]

It figures... It'll be on the FTP site just after I leave school for the summer which means I'll have to buy it... Grrr.

-Aaron

suse: yast source/license

[MACC]

i've just had a look at Yast and its source/Copyright notice:
it's all the GNU stuff
you can do whatever you want with it
but you have to print out that this is a changed version.
This ties in With Suse's free support!?

suse rulez

[reaper20]

I agree .... definately easier to use than RH5.2 ... I had the whole thing running and configured to my liking in under and hour, and I'm a newbie! Plus you get 5 CDs of stuff for ~$35!!!

Don't wait for it, Go for 6.0 NOW

[Smoking]

I just got the 6.0 Version ( in french )
and I just want to tell you :

GET IT QUICKLY...
It's by far the best distro I've tried (features / quality / # of packages / price / manual)

100 000 units have been sold in germany ONLY

just my 2 c.

Old News, SuSE normally late

[Teelo]

First of, this is old news - the announcement was already out a couple of days ago, and SuSE 6.1 was already mentioned in a previous slashdot post...

Second of, SuSE is known for being late. Sadly, they partly follow the Microsoft strategy - announce early, deliver at some point. Going by experience, the "European" (I do not know why somebody calls a plain German version European...) version is going to be released at least two weeks late, and the international one will suffer in the same amount...