I am currently using Ubuntu. I pay for Canonical support. I’m a developer. Having high quality paid support is a smart investment to keep me productive in my job (self-employed). I’m very interested in openSuse now, especially with btrfs and snapper in 12.1 and the great integration of popular gnome apps in KDE. I just don’t think I can go the Unity route with Ubuntu. (And I have actually already switched to Linux Mint 12, but it is close enough to Ubuntu that I can still get support.)
So my question is about the paid support offerings for Suse as I make the decision about switching… I read this 2009 article and it sounded pretty good: Commercial Linux Distro Support: Which is Best? - Datamation But when I tried to actually find paid support today, I could not find anything. It seems like those options no longer exist. I probably won’t switch to openSuse unless I can also get a support contract similar to what I have with Canonical.
One problem I ran into with Canonical is that all my questions were more like server questions and they didn’t like handling those issues under a desktop support contract. Ultimately they did for an extra $100/yr. Does anyone have experience with Suse in this regard? Thanks
On 2011-12-14 02:26, MountainX wrote:
> probably won’t switch to openSuse unless I
> can also get a support contract similar to what I have with Canonical.
There is no paid support for openSUSE, just for SUSE (SLES and SLED). And I
don’t know what exactly they cover.
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Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
Thanks for the links. The reseller idea was helpful. On CDW’s site, I found more info than I found on Novell’s site. Here’s what I see listed on SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop - standard subscription for $269.
Support Details Full Contract Period: 3 years
Service & Support Details
Service Type: New releases update
Response Time: 4 hours
Service Availability (Days a Week): Monday-Friday
Service Availability (Hours a Day): 12 hours a day
Service Type: Phone consulting
Service Type: Web support
If that price gives me 3 years of support, it is about 3x better deal than Canonical for similar support terms. I guess I can call CDW and (hopefully) get more info. It’s strange that a concise summary of support options is so hard to find on the SUSE or Novell websites.
EDIT: ooops, I just realized that SUSE is still on version 11. I want to use 12.1. That’s a problem.
@Malcolmlewis is best placed to advise you as he actually uses SLED
I’m pretty sure the 11.1 is not that important once you take in all the Service Packs etc…
On 12/14/2011 05:46 AM, MountainX wrote:
> EDIT: ooops, I just realized that SUSE is still on version 11. I want
> to use 12.1. That’s a problem.
you have to decide what you want:
commercial, enterprise ready, stable, well tested and long term
(several years) support through SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop or Server
(SLED or SLES) with a purchased support contract…
or
cutting edge, fast moving (18 month lifetime, new release every 8
months), free download, free support (best effort from volunteers and
other user) openSUSE…
the two products are related (the commercial built on the TESTED
foundation laid by openSUSE) and similar but not the same…
don’t get confused by version numbers…SLED version 11 is updated
constantly as the software matures and stabilizes in openSUSE…
Hi
Only to try out btrfs and snapper? What applications do you need to be
available?
Probably some more details would help, but since it’s a bit OT here,
suggest you ask/define your requirements over in the SLED forums at http://forums.novell.com (your login here will work there too).
I like the way Canonical does it - I can use the latest release of Ubuntu and get professional support for it. But if SLED 11 is nearly as up to date as openSuse 12.1, that might be OK. However, if you notice in my first post, I said I wanted btrfs and snapper…
Hi
Likewise with SLE, if there is a release into your paid subscription
period, you update and support carries on. SLED 11 SP2 is due out
sooner rather than later, you might be surprised whats in there at a
kernel level…
openSUSE does not have the make-money-focus that Canonical has, and i
really doubt if it ever will…on the other hand suse.de is in the
business of making money, and they will be happy to serve you, for a price…
but, if they don’t serve you the way you want, then use what works best
for you!
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DD
openSUSE®, the “German Engineered Automobiles” of operating systems!
