[wplug] SuSE 8.2 update

[Robert E. Coutch]

I promised a while back to relay my experience with SuSE 8.2 Pro after I 
had a chance to use it a while.
Sorry for the long delay but life has become EXTREMELY busy and I just 
haven't had the time.

In the past I ususally download or purchase the lowest cost distro's for 
use (usually RedHat).
This has always worked fine and I had no problem going out to the net to 
download what was missing.

I am now SPOILED !

The SuSE 8.2 Professional came on 2 DVD's and 5 CD's and I haven't 
downloaded any missing software from the net because I'm not missing 
anything.

Well, I did download a few themes for Gnome from freshmeat.net and 
MythTV which is relatively new software.
And of course the latest version of Return to Wolfenstein: Enemy 
Territory (It's free from Activision - try it!).

SuSE has a similar feature to RedHat's up2date so a little icon in the 
system tray (KDE) turned red when updates became available.
Unlike RedHat, there is no extra fee to get full access to updates.

Updating can be made fully automatic but I like to see what's going to 
happen so I don't use that feature.

One of the nicest features is the ability to request software from the 
CD's using YAST2.
You are presented with a loooooong list of packages available on the 
CD's(DVD's) arranged in various ways such as alphabetically or by 
package types.
You just check off your selections and when done the system will prompt 
for the CD (or CD's) needed to install the software.
This is probably my most favorite feature.

Setup was just as easy as most modern Linux distro's.

The only problem I have is there's nothing like RedHat's Kudzu.
On one system I tested, the ISA modem card was not working.
I am playing with isapnp and pnpdump to resolve the issue.

I have to say that the SuSE did pick up all other hardware including 
SCSI cards, video cards, network cards, sound cards (using ALSA),
wheel mice, CD recorders, TV card and all other hardware I've tossed at it.

I was really surprised when I plugged in a Logitec webcam and an icon 
popped up for it on the desktop (KDE).
I can see myself using xawtv but haven't really found a use for the camera.

Both my digital cameras work.

I plugged in my Zaurus and a set-up dialog popped up asking to configure 
it as a modem.
A few lines added to the USB config file and a usbnet-cfg file in 
/etc/sysconfig/network got the Zaurus working great.
Qtopia desktop for Linux works nice with the Z.

Here are the features of my main SuSE 8.2 system:
Athlon  1.4Ghz
50x CD-ROM
CD-R/RW
Zip 100 IDE
40 Gb HD w/S.M.A.R.T (7200rpm)
256Mb RAM
Hauppage WinTV video card
Yamaha YMF-724 sound (soon to replaced w/Audigy)
Nvidia G-force 4 MX video card with S-Video out.
SiS mother board w/onboard LAN, sound, USB, etc.
Logitec optical wheel mouse and logitec internet keyboard

There is a UPC Backups Pro 1100 connected to the system via serial port.
I am using the apcupsd package (from the SuSE CD's) to control system.

Overall, I have NO COMPLAINTS and am very happy I spent the $80 for this 
distro.
It was well worth it.

KDE 3 is my favorite desktop for now. It is the default on SuSE and is 
well intergrated with SuSE's features.
In the past I favoured WindowMaker and Gnome.

I'm sure there are others who have not had a good experience so I'd like 
to hear about that.

If you have any questions about SuSE 8.2, I'll b happy to answer as best 
I can.
You can download a live CD from SuSE's ftp (ftp.suse.com) site and try 
it out.
[note: A live CD is a bootable CD with an OS and programs that can be 
run directly from the CD drive - no need to install anything]

If you don't care - hit delete
If you do care - how about a review of your distro?


Thanks for your time,

Bob