Now that 12.1 is out, what are your thoughts on it?

[dragonbite]

I find that to be inexcusable for a major distro. I guess the developers don't realize that first impressions make a difference. Or maybe they expect everyone to do it the long way. (that will go over well with noobs) How can I recommend opensuse if one can't (easily) get what's needed? No ati, no nvidia, no vlc. The boot up screens looked very amatuerish and glitchy. There's no network icon on the task bar, and I had to "activate" my wireless card in yast. Really? Every other distro recognizes it automatically and gives me the opportunity to connect from the task bar.

I try opensuse every release, and every time I've been at least slightly disappointed. It is the only distro I've tried over the years that consistently gives me grief. But that's OK, all other distros work just fine, and there are plenty of choices. I'm sure the devs worked really hard, and there are people that it works well for, but it's just not for me. Good luck to everyone.

I'm sure the developers do know how important first impressions are.

I've also been trying and trying openSUSE with each release, only to move on to my usual distros. Except for a networking issue at this point, this version has the best chance of lasting at least for a while!

[Wrath5000]

I've also had the frozen screen during install from 64-bit DVD, and I wasn't able to add Packman from the community repositories on the first try.

Other than that, it's been quite a pleasant experience so far. The desktop seems snappier, more responsive to me. I'm not sure whether or not I'll install nVidia drivers the "hard" way, or wait for the repo.

I'm still waiting for a few packages to pop up in Packman, but most-if not all-of the essentials are there.

[malcolmlewis]

No ati, no nvidia, no vlc.

Hi
They are all proprietary/patent encumbered which is not the openSUSE
philosophy, those packages are provided by third-party's not openSUSE.

--
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.4 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.37.6-0.9-desktop
up 1 day 1:00, 3 users, load average: 0.43, 0.22, 0.14
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - Driver Version: 285.05.09

[wolfen69a]

Hi
They are all proprietary/patent encumbered which is not the openSUSE
philosophy, those packages are provided by third-party's not openSUSE.

I'm well aware of that. But those repos should be made available at release time. How am I supposed to use an operating system if the tools I need aren't there? Believe it or not, a lot of people use those things and are available in other distros. I wasn't asking for the world, just typical things.

[malcolmlewis]

malcolmlewis;2405231 Wrote:
> Hi
> They are all proprietary/patent encumbered which is not the openSUSE
> philosophy, those packages are provided by third-party's not openSUSE.
>

I'm well aware of that. But those repos should be made available at
release time. How am I supposed to use an operating system if the tools
I need aren't there? Believe it or not, -a lot- of people use those
things and are available in other distros. I wasn't asking for the
world, just typical things.

But as you can see from the mailing list, openSUSE has no control of
them...
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-f.../msg00845.html

Install the drivers manually, or build your own rpm.

VLC is there;
http://packman.links2linux.org/package/vlc

Likewise for libdvdcss, it doesn't change very often, so a quick rebuild
of the src rpm on your installed system and it's done.

--
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.4 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.37.6-0.9-desktop
up 1 day 1:39, 3 users, load average: 0.03, 0.08, 0.11
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - Driver Version: 285.05.09

[Knurpht]

@malcolmlewis: I knew this. But people arrive on NVIDIA's FTP site, they see a folder "openSUSE", with 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, no 12.1, but a README, which says the repo is not maintained by NVIDIA but by Novell/SUSE. Confusing. Isn't there anybody that can build an rpm from the .run blobs?

[malcolmlewis]

@malcolmlewis: I knew this. But people arrive on NVIDIA's FTP site, they
see a folder "openSUSE", with 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, no 12.1, but a README,
which says the repo is not maintained by NVIDIA but by Novell/SUSE.
Confusing. Isn't there anybody that can build an rpm from the .run
blobs?

It is confusing..... for me it's just quicker to run a command and no
need to wait to update a kernel because the driver isn't ready.

AFAIK, ATI have only just release their latest driver in the last few
days.

http://software.opensuse.org/search?...ude_debug=true
I guess some people do

--
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.4 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.37.6-0.9-desktop
up 1 day 2:28, 3 users, load average: 0.25, 0.20, 0.16
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - Driver Version: 285.05.09

[JoergJaeger]

I've got to say that this release is actually the worst so far. Why? Well, because it failed to install smoothly.
First after the install when it switches to the configuration screen my screen went black and did not revive. So i had to restart after which it worked again.
The second what did not work was the internet. Why????? Well, it seems to be that the enabled IPv6 in the network section prevents any connection. Since i have no idea about that stuff i disabled it and after a reboot the internet was there.

So this is a bummer really. Now i will install all the apps i need.

Even considering that my hardware is not current, but it isn't that old either. Is IPv6 essential or needed? Or does it just need some tweaks.

Otherwise it seem a nice polished new openSUSE. Even after this rocky install i will always hold on to my good old friend that gecko.

Sadly, Chrome seems to be not right in the packaging (c't stated it would) but it may be that it is in packman which explains it. At least claws was right there but no plugins. mmm..

Oh, yes the NVidia drivers... another road block. But it takes just some days i am sure. Not to worry about.
p.s. i was silly, Chrome is not but Chromium is which is what i was looking for. My mistake

[darkdawn]

@malcolmlewis: I knew this. But people arrive on NVIDIA's FTP site, they see a folder "openSUSE", with 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, no 12.1, but a README, which says the repo is not maintained by NVIDIA but by Novell/SUSE. Confusing. Isn't there anybody that can build an rpm from the .run blobs?

I agree with what you said, and while the system is stable in my case, i can't understand how can they release a distribution without nvidia drivers, I mean i tried a lot of distro's and haven't seen this yet!
The other issues i have:
- plasma themes or desktop themes, however they are called, are not working for me. I downloaded two themes and they dont appear in the themes list so i can't select them.
- the other issue is i dont see any network manager in the notification bar.

other than that, everything is working properly till now.
I know Opensuse team worked hard to make the system stable, but some minor things do need to get fixed, and the nvidia driver should have been updated before the release.

just my thoughts and opinion.

[the_Dude_abides]

I like this version. Gnome 3 has made me a KDE-user. Unless Gnome 3 makes some drastic changes, I'm very happy with sticking with KDE. Restricted formats & wireless connections seem to be getting easier with every distribution. All else is fine other than my Gnucash issue with Guile 2.0.