Regardless of font size, most websites look different in Linux than in Windows even if you have the fonts. But that’s probably because of the difference in video drivers as you said. And I was just getting used to seeing no differences across different browsers due to the adoption of W3C standards. 
Being a web builder, I say it’s almost impossible to create modern websites that look exactly the same on all OS’s, all browsers. Open a plain html site in Chrome, FF, Opera, Konqueror and Aurora and you’ll see. Font rendering for one is different on all.
My 2 cents here: first see that you have the proper driver installed. That’s the same on any Win version. The Win7 that was on my laptop looked horrible until I installed the NVIDIA driver.
On 2011-01-02 11:36, pdedecker wrote:
> But if openSUSE want
> to appeal to a wider audience, it has some polishing to do.
Not so wide an audience. The goal is adventurous users, not those that are
not prepared to invest time and work - or money on some other person to do
the support.
Consider that most of the support come from unpaid fellow users that offer
help, like here. There are limits to what we can do.
As for the polishing, from experience I know that the polish in software is
very much time consuming, and thus, expensive. I personally prefer they
expend it on more important goals, like correcting bugs.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)
Good to know. I’m happy with openSUSE myself, but I think that people who are new to Linux are better off tinkering with Ubuntu before they move on to other distributions. It doesn’t have a lot of default settings I don’t like and it can autodetect and autoconfigure most peripherals. I’d say that their app store is easier to work with than the Software Management applet in openSUSE, but advanced users will prefer the Software Management applet because it lets you search for libraries and other non-software packages too, unlike Ubuntu’s app store.
This is just my personal opinion at the moment. I do not know the ins and outs of all Linux distros so I’m not the best judge.
You’re quoting me on openSUSE :), this has nothing to do with opinion, rather with personal taste.
I’d say that their app store is easier to work with than the Software Management applet in openSUSE, but advanced users will prefer the Software Management applet because it lets you search for libraries and other non-software packages too, unlike Ubuntu’s app store.
I’m one of those who like to know what’s going on. No way in the app store. What I have seen as a result, was Ubuntus with 90% of the app store installed. But to be honest, we see people here with 25+ repos enabled.
This is just my personal opinion at the moment. I do not know the ins and outs of all Linux distros so I’m not the best judge.
One thing I have noticed from your posts and screenshots in them, is that you walk away from the defaults as soon as the OS is installed. Like the tree view in Systemsettings. This does not make 'getting to know the OS" easier. Also, read the stuff the system is showing you. IMHO one can learn an aweful lot from just taking time for an install, read every screen, watch the steps in the install procedure.
Anyway, have fun, enjoy your openSUSE
On 2011-01-02 21:36, pdedecker wrote:
>
> robin_listas;2272833 Wrote:
>> Not so wide an audience. The goal is adventurous users, not those that
>> are not prepared to invest time and work - or money on some other person to
>> do the support.
> Good to know. I’m happy with openSUSE myself, but I think that people
> who are new to Linux are better off tinkering with Ubuntu before they
> move on to other distributions.
I have my doubts about that. All linux distros are quite similar in the
essentials; some are easier, some are more difficult. All, sooner or later,
expect the user invest time and effort. A user that expect things to be /as
easy/ as in windows has a big chance of being… whats the word…?
cheated? No… I can’t find the word now. Anyway.
I have a friend like that. Tries linux now and then. Expects everything to
be point and shoot, click, click, click. He usually tries ubuntu and
opensuse. And of course, something always fails, and asks me for advice.
“Edit such file, change this to that and”… and he is yelling in disgust.
> It doesn’t have a lot of default
> settings I don’t like and it can autodetect and autoconfigure most
> peripherals.
Except when it fails to do so, and then it becomes quite difficult.
> This is just my personal opinion at the moment. I do not know the ins
> and outs of all Linux distros so I’m not the best judge.
Me neither. I made my choice years ago 
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)
Hi all,
I have been a devoted opensuse user for about 5yrs now. Back then it was the best at detecting things out of the box, with the best user interface, and YAST was always fantastic at doing things without descending into command line hell. There have been good versions and some very bad, but generally everything has worked and been very stable and reliable.
I have recently noticed though that support for none standard features has been very poorly implememented. I dread upgrades as it usually takes loads of faffing about getting Multimedia, NVidia and Compiz worting. Nine times out of ten the one click solution is out of date or just not working properly. I recently installed AWN and spent over a day getting all the none implemented dependencies working properly. It was a pain.
I recently installed Ubuntu One onto my acer aspire one, and was very pleasantly surprised by the smooth install and easy configuration. I tried to install AWN on my son’s computer running 32bit Opensuse 11.2 but found it a maze of unsupported dependencies with no easy logic to how to piece it all together - I gave up. As an experiment I decided to try installing Ubuntu 10.10 on his machine to see how it compared. The install was easy and very self contained and took about an hour to perform after online upgrades (a feature that never worked over Wifi on my Opensuse installs). At the end it detected my Nvidia card and offered to install the optimised propriatery driver (this has always been a bit fiddly in older Opensuse versions). Compiz installed from Synaptic without a hitch, AWN installed first time, multimedia was a one click affair with just one extra for DVD playback.
i tried Installing a version of STOPMOTION for my son on his opensuse 11.2, but eventually gave up. It was ready and waiting in the Synaptic repository and worked first time.
All online instructions were comprehensive with Ubuntu and easy to follow.
The upshot of all this is that I am so impressed, and so grudgingly disppointed by the progress of Opensuse, that I have decided to jump ship after nearly half a decade of loyalty. Ubuntu has simply overtaken Opensuse on almost every front. It seems that since the sale of Novell, this is only likely to get worse rather than better.
Its a real shame as I have been a real advocate for Opensuse for a long time, but no longer. It will be a little while before I migrate my main system as it is fully up to date and stable so I have no reason to abandon it at the moment - however once the next major release of Gnome is announced - I will be moving completely over to Ubuntu. A sad day for me.
Shoog
If you have found another distribution that you like better its not a sad day but its a day to be happy.
Linux is Linux and were are Linux fans and we wish you all the best.
What we need is users who contribute and not just take and not if they don’t like just leave. Sadly that (providing help) seems to be lacking.
Please thou, I am puzzled about one thing. I see 2 posts. Only 2 posts. Why only 2 posts? Did you go through countless problems and ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to ask for help? Why did not you ask for help many times? Why?
Our forum is not a developer forum. Its a user forum for providing help by volunteers who are paid nothing. So by posting here, with no request for help, … you are telling the developers nothing but only succeeding in annoying users who try to help on our own time !..
I’m puzzled …
… But anyway, … best of Luck in your Linux experience no matter what distribution you are using. Hopefully next time (if there is one) you ask for help as opposed to just drop a rant on us.
I have always managed to get there in the end by using Google. Often I have found that my problems are generic problems with the package offered in opensuse. I have generally been able to hack my way to a solution, but not always - and in those instances the problem doesn’t seem to get solved in the community until the next version. Its been good with Opensuse, but I just get the impression that the community is drifting away and that makes it more difficult for the averagely competent user to get the answers he needs.
Its really been the sloppy way that dependencies are been handled which has grown to annoy me. Opensuse is very good at supporting core components, but poor at supporting add on’s which are slightly off what is offered in the basic package. A component such as AWN or Compiz is offered in the Software repositories - but no-one has taken the trouble to make certain that all the dependencies are addressed - thats just sloppy.
I understand that this is a community effort, but the community needs a critical mass to keep things ticking over well. that was the case when Opensuse was the best distro out there - i just have the feeling it is no longer the case. I am not a computer enthusiast, just a user who wants to get things done - I have managed that with Opensuse up till now (and have been very happy most of the time - though I remember some very dark days back with 10.2) but feel that my needs will be marginally better served with Ubuntu in the future.
This is not a complaint - so much as a friendly observation. I took the trouble to post this because its actually a very big change in my opinion and I feel that Opensuse will have to up its game a great deal if it doesn’t want to fall by the wayside.
Shoog
The community can only help if asked.
Users who do not ask, but then rant on an area where there are only volunteers who try to help, either (1) do not know the fact that there are no developers on the forum, or (2) they are trying to dissuade and upset others.
If I feel down, I don’t pour my problems on complete strangers, … I go to friends with whom I have conversed in the past. Where are your posts from the past ?
If I want to make a point about a bad product, I go to the people who produce the product.
Frankly, the above post is misplaced.
Stick around with openSUSE forum, and ASK for help, give us the details of the problem, and we will try to help.
Or if you have your requirements met elsewhere then that is fabulous and best of luck. Truely. Linux is Linux and I hope all Linux users the best.
Note the openSUSE developers hang out on the mailing list and selected IRC channels, and NOT on our forum.
So please don’t post and lambast on an area where we have volunteers providing support. That accomplishes nothing unless your goal is to destroy.
You note you are not a computer enthusiast, …well I am an enthusiast and volunteer and I have NO control over the direction of openSUSE, and posts like yours are completely in THE WRONG PLACE and they do nothing positive. Your post did not come across as friendly, even if you meant it to be friendly.
My response was in the correct thread as per the opening post. If the Opensuse Forums, supported on the Novell site, is not the correct place to post such comments, then maybe going out into the wider community and expressing the same impressions where they would be truly damaging to the community - would be more preferable ?
I can only presume that Novell test the waters by keeping an eye on their forums and if criticism isn’t voiced then maybe they will be under the impression that all is ticky boo.
Shoog
You stated you are good with google. And you surely read my post. There are no developers on this forum.
The place to go to make your point is the Mailing Lists or the IRC channels where the developers are located.
Wrong assumption/presumption.
I can only assume/presume that you knowing that there are no developers here - that you are posting, for the FIRST time, and CONTINUING to post after having been told you are in the WRONG area, that you are doing so to only stir up trouble amongst volunteers who give up of their own free time, out of their own generosity. Why do that ?
If you have a technical problem that we can help you with, please post and we will be glad to help.
A reminder - this is a volunteer help forum.
I’ll try to make this easy for you … here is the wiki on openSUSE commications : openSUSE:Communication channels - openSUSE
Good luck in your Linux efforts and I hope in future you are better able to post in the correct areas.
Shoog wrote:
> A sad day for me.
don’t be sad, be happy you have an alternative…
because when the day comes and you find that Ubuntu no longer makes
you smile (if that happens) you can hope that the deep pockets of one
multi-millionaire has not bought up all the talent and silently slid
a nose ring into the noses of all FOSS users and there are no
alternative but Ubuntu (and spins), M$ and Mac…
ponder THAT world…
or, maybe you wish to believe that Mark is just a big fluffy nice guy
out to make the world a better place, no matter the personal cost…
–
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]
Be it ever so humble, there is no place like 127.0.0.1.
Shoog wrote:
> A sad day for me.
don’t be sad, be happy you have an alternative…
because when the day comes and you find that Ubuntu no longer makes
you smile (if that happens) you can hope that the deep pockets of one
multi-millionaire has not bought up all the talent and silently slid
a nose ring into the noses of all FOSS users and there are no
alternative but Ubuntu (and spins), M$ and Mac…
ponder THAT world…
or, maybe you wish to believe that Mark is just a big fluffy nice guy
out to make the world a better place, no matter the personal cost…
What I want, and have always wanted is for the user to have the easiest experience possible, and in so doing become an advocate for Linux and the Opens source ethos. That requires certain things of the development team and the reason other distro’s are making inroads into the rightful territory of Opensuse is because they have addressed that issue in a more professional way.
Novell is a business and is most definately not in the game for the good of anyone but its own health.
That ultimately is all that matters to the end user, and whilst ever their needs are better met somewhere else then they will go there.
Since I seem to be stepping on sensitive toes, that all I will add.
Shoog
My response was in the correct thread as per the opening post. If the Opensuse Forums, supported on the Novell site, is not the correct place to post such comments, then maybe going out into the wider community and expressing the same impressions where they would be truly damaging to the community - would be more preferable ?
I can only presume that Novell test the waters by keeping an eye on their forums and if criticism isn’t voiced then maybe they will be under the impression that all is ticky boo.
Shoog
Shoog, there is no reason to get your feelings hurt. If you have a complaint, then post it. It is best to start your own thread so as to not confuse the issue the original thread was started for. In this world, we have many tastes, for food, drink, listening to music, reading books and in the Linux distributions that we select. It is no crime to like one and disdain another, but it is best to leave what you do not like and switch to what you do like and then help it to become better. This is what I have done with openSUSE and it is what I recommend to all that read this. I do not think that there is or ever will be a single Linux distribution that is best for all and I don’t think there should be. We all want to be the best and use the best, but it is that difference between us, that competition, that can help make us better. To become better, we need your help and perhaps your criticism, but we take in a spirit to become a better distribution. In that endeavor I wish you the best of luck in what ever you decide to do.
Thank You,
Shoog … here again is the URL with openSUSE communiction channels:
openSUSE:Communication channels - openSUSE If you truely do want to bring up your observations to Novell, then the mailing lists and the appropriate openSUSE developer’s IRC chat channels are the place do do it.
You can also raise recommendations for improvement in openSUSE on openFATE: https://features.opensuse.org/
… and if you note something does not work properly and you can not get support from our Forum nor from the support mailing list, nor from the support IRC chat channel, then we would appreciate your time to write a bug report, with guidance here:
openSUSE:Submitting bug reports - openSUSE
You can use your openSUSE forum username and password on both openFATE and on bugzilla.
Hopefully that will help you to focus your observations where they will do the most good, and not be disruptive with no good done.
I take exception when users have fewer posts than fingers on one hand. Incredible what people expect. openSUSE is not going away. We’re creating our own foundation and most certainly will be drawing in more developers.
Have you not been reading about the new projects that are up and coming this year?
When I joined the openSUSE forum, I had a number of issues with openSUSE. How were they resolved?
- You ask questions on the forum
- Log on to IRC and discuss your issues with users and developers
- Subscribe to mailing lists, ask questions and propose ideas
- Create your own ideas & suggestions with openFate
- You feel a package is lacking i.e. AWN Then become a tester to add feedback
- Log on to SuseStudio and create your own distro or appliance
When I began helping in my own way, I was able to get packages fixed; features added that were not there a year earlier.
I feel strongly that openSUSE is getting better. We may not have a billionaire backing us. But we have great people helping out on our forums, IRC channels and mailing lists. People creating, packaging and testing. We’ve revamped the way Q&A is being done! You cannot put a price on that.
There’s nothing better than seeing your own ideas and suggestions appear in the next version.
Remember to have fun!
Romanator
Shoog wrote:
> Novell is a business and is most definately not in the game for the
> good of anyone but its own health.
Novell is VERY sparsely represented here in these fora…and as far as
i know every Novell employee who comes here does so on their own
time, on their own dime, and of their own free will…
Novell is NOT openSUSE…openSUSE is a community with the corporate
sponsorship of Novell and some other companies…
on the other hand, this is open public forum and maybe they read here
from time to time to learn what folks like you think about
openSUSE–but, i have seen NO evidence of that.
as oldcpu has said many time–you are in the wrong place to try to do
what you claim to want to do…you are talking to a bunch of users
trying to help other users…
you are NOT talking to the folks who decide anything about
anything–understand?
if we want something done we have to log it in fate or bugzilla, or
join a mail list or IRC channel just like you.
–
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]
Be it ever so humble, there is no place like 127.0.0.1.
Welcome,
This is been my experience, Network Manager does not work. It always has problems storing wifi keys does not start until user is logged on. Which becomes a problem when you are trying to mount a user home directory over NFS. Best thing to do is start YaST2, chose Network Devices, Network settings and in Global Options chose IFUP.
For numlock, open Personal Settings, chose Keyboard and Mouse, and you have options for numlock. It is off by default because most laptops do not have a number pad.
As for the installer partition set up, it is a lot better then Ubuntu. It gives the installer the option to use a guided setup or custom. Most of other distros do not give you the ability to build a software raid on install.
Still testing out Ubuntu, but right now its a no go. It lacks Admin tools, YaST2 is awsome. Spent two days at home, could not get WiFi to work, Network Manager kept telling me that me key was wrong, and what tools were there could not switch to IFUP. Ubuntu does not get rid of the old Kernel when it is updated. You have to run a clean up program to remove the old kernel, and that does not move the entry from Grub.
The only problem I have with openSUSE is with the short life cycle. Eighteen months is just to short, and I feel the such a quick time between new releases is leaving too many bugs in the OS upon release. Its getting like Micro Soft, release it now and we will fix it later. I would love to see a community vote here in the forum on release cycle and life cycle. Who wants to reinstall every 18 months. If you are going to have such a short time between releases, do it like CentOs. Make it a rolling release, .0 becomes .1, .2 …etc until the next .0.
Dave W
Have you heard of the relatively new openSUSE community Evergreen project ? openSUSE:Evergreen - openSUSE and also the relatively new openSUSE Tumbleweed project ? Portal:Tumbleweed - openSUSE Wiki