Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 11:56:19 -0800 (PST) From: Jason Byrne <jbyrne@thegrid.net> Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0011231109500.374-100000@rusty.jdog.org> Subject: Re: [suse-sparc] Re: [SLE] SuSE Sparc 7.0: stable?
> I've invested a serious amount of time and effort into
> learning the nuts and bolts of RedHat Linux - and I was
> very disappointed when release 7.0 for SPARC didn't
> materialise. The only other system I know in depth is
> OpenBSD, but I have used this exclusively on Intel
> machines due to the limited framebuffer support.
>
> If I was to move to SuSE's distribution, I would also
> be inclined to install it onto my Intel machines as well.
> But before I do this I would need to be confident that
> SuSE are commited to producing new releases for all the
> architectures I use. Otherwise, I would have to seriously
> consider dropping my use of SPARC machines and concentrate
> on the Linux distribution I already know.
>
> So if anyone from SuSE is reading this mailing list, please
> consider your SPARC distribution as a loss leader if
> nothing else. I am sure there are other people like me who
> use a mixture of architectures and would like to
> standardise on one distribution.
imho... SuSE is an excellent Linux distribution overall - and I've run 6.1
- 6.4 on Intel hardware, 7.0 on a Sparc 10, and 6.4 on PowerPC.
SuSE seems to be very involved with all aspects of developing and
contributing to Linux and related projects on all platforms...
I had RedHat 6.1 on my Sparc 10 for a while, but I was thrilled to see a
SuSE distribution when I noticed it by accident one day... browsing SuSE's
ftp site.
I'm not sure what the answer is for 'commercial' adoption, but I've always
though any Linux is more *fun* than Solaris on Sparc hardware.
Intel side -
I've actually switched to Slackware a couple of months ago on my Intel
machines... after I realized I couldn't download the latest SuSE offering,
but I might hit the store one day and purchase the boxed set. I really
don't mind spending the cash for the boxed set - it's an incredible deal
for the amount of care SuSE puts into their distributions... and it's nice
to show some support for their efforts =)
I only started downloading distributions and burning my own CD's when it
became feasible over a fast connection at work... and I just recently
acquired a PC with a CD-burner at work.
PowerPC side -
I bought one of the very recent iMac DV's - with the intent of playing
with MacOS X, etc... and seeing where that goes.
I played with the MacOS X beta for a while... and then ordered a copy of
SuSE for PowerPC (6.4 at the time). With the newer 'Apple Pro' keyboard
and mouse... it wasn't possible to install the distribution out of the
box... but SuSE had already added a newer kernel and a collection of
patches. Final word - I got everything working... owing to the diligent
contributions to the folks at SuSE. I'll probably grab the recently
released 7.0 PowerPC version... since it was released last week - with
mention of better graphics support with XFree86-4.0.1 for the ATI Rage
cards, etc... and of course increased USB support (very essential on a
Mac)
Sparc side - no real complaints about this - although I admit I only use
the machine as a development server for Web/CGI related stuff. The quirks
I noticed in the early stages were very minor... at least for my intended
use. The whole time... I was working with a semi-functional optical
mouse... and a dying keyboard.
---Solaris x86 here and there, BeOS, etc.., etc...
At work... I actually have an SGI O2 running IRIX as my primary desktop machine - and the PC mentioned earlier running Slackware Linux
Then you throw in the various other Solaris or HP-UX machines I work with in the course of the day.
Anyway - I get a kick out of playing with any OS - it's just nice to see all the people providing so many alternatives.
I think most people are happy putting their organization behind Solaris on Sparc hardware, x86 Linux, or BSD variants - but any development to grow the feasibility of other alternatives is always exciting.
- Jason
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