SUSE Linux Days - May & June 2012

[SteveRiley]

This just landed in my email, thought I'd share in case anyone's interested.

http://www.suse.com/events/linux-days-2012.html

Learn the latest in Enterprise Linux technical innovation from SUSE.

Join us for Linux Days, where SUSE technical experts will present and demonstrate the latest open source technologies from SUSE that benefit your data center. SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Service Pack 2 was recently released, greatly enhancing not just the performance and reliability of SUSE Linux, but also marking a significant change to the way SUSE delivers innovation in enterprise Linux.

By moving to a forward-looking development model, SUSE will look "forward" at the new features and functionality in upstream Linux kernels and introduce them more frequently through kernel updates into our enterprise code stream, using more "forward" porting of code, rather than just back porting of patches.

This seminar will demonstrate several key technologies that SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 SP2 has brought to the market—months (if not years!) ahead of other Linux distributions.

* 3.0 Linux Kernel—improved performance of compute and memory intensive workloads with support for transparent huge pages
* Linux containers—high efficiency, low overhead OS virtualization
* Btrfs—improved services availability and data integrity with copy on write, integrated volume management, and checksums
* High Availability Extension—see new functionality that makes it even easier to set up and use the integrated suite of robust, open-source clustering technologies in SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension

If I happen to be in SF on 7 June, I just might go. And I can't believe they're offering it in Columbus but not Seattle...I'm miffed!

[vw72]

It's interesting that SUSE, which was once known as the premier KDE distro uses Gnome for SUSE Linux Enterprise, at least in all of its screenshots. The main apps they are pushing are OpenOffice, Firefox and Evolution. Now, I understand Evolution when trying to enter into a Windows-centric world, other than that, how is Gnome more Enterprise capable than KDE? Or is it simply since IBM is pushing this and they also push RedHat that using Gnome on both platforms is easier to support?

[GreyGeek]

Wow!

Looking at their Alliance Partner listing they show large collection of the big players in enterprise service & software vending.

They also show LibreOffice as part of their offerings but Oracle is one of their alliance Partners.

I first used SuSE (now SUSE) in Sept of 1998 with SuSE 5.3. Over the next five or six years I paid 22 times for SuSE, via "WindRiver" (IIRC), and never regretted a penny of it. The invoices averaged $30-50 @. Today, they offer the following:

Scope of Coverage	Maintenance	Maintenance and Support	Maintenance and Support
Delivered	Updates via Customer Center	Updates via Customer Center and Patches	Updates via Customer Center and Patches
Support Hours	N/A	12x5	24x7
Support Access Methods	N/A	Email, Chat and Phone	Email, Chat and Phone
Support Response Time	N/A	4 hours	1 hour for Severity 1 4 hours for all others
One Year Subscription	$50Buy	$120Buy	$220Buy
Three Year Subscription	$135	$324	$590
25-Pack One Year	-	$2,125	$4,000
25-Pack Three Year	-	$5,700	$10,800

I figured it up one time and over about 5 years I spent about $10/month on SuSE. It was a GREAT OS. I've tried OpenSUSE and it is not bad either. Its main feature is its admin software system. It is what SystemSettings is becoming. But, since Novell got their hands on it, they've mucked it up.

From the looks of that web page the current owners have their ducks all in a row. I don't have a need for a "Priority" subscription but a three year to "Standard" wouldn't bother me at all. Neither would a subscription to Kubuntu. If push came to shove and Kubuntu needed cash I'd pay $10/month to continue getting what I get now.

[SteveRiley]

It's interesting that SUSE, which was once known as the premier KDE distro uses Gnome for SUSE Linux Enterprise, at least in all of its screenshots. The main apps they are pushing are OpenOffice, Firefox and Evolution. Now, I understand Evolution when trying to enter into a Windows-centric world, other than that, how is Gnome more Enterprise capable than KDE? Or is it simply since IBM is pushing this and they also push RedHat that using Gnome on both platforms is easier to support?

Your question (which I bolded) is probably not the right thing to ask. Evolution is simply better than KDE-PIM at integrating with existing enterprise email and calendaring systems (read: Exchange). So if the distro is built around Evolution (and OpenOffice), then it's logical to use GNOME for the DE. That makes for a less brittle and more consistent user experience, which is the only way you'll ever see desktop Linux work in large enterprises.