[olug] Distro Poll on the website

[K.J. Kirwan]

OK, you've talked to them and you've read the license
(I have done neither) so you're +2 over me.  And
IANAL, but I have to agree with the poster below
who pointed out that there are no ISOs, only the live
CD and the FTP installer.  It was my understanding that
Suse wants to sell Yast, and whatever other proprietary
programs they also include.  And that the FTP installer
does not install Yast, etc., so that the FTP install is
sort of a "lite" version?

Wouldn't running Suse without Yast be like running
Mandrake without urpmi or Gentoo without emerge?
Isn't Yast one of Suse's big selling points, I mean?

"You can make copies of the CD and redistribute them
   without a problem..."

Are you talking about the Live CD and the FTP install
boot disk?  I agree, those would be no problem.
But what about ISOs?  If what you say is true, why
does no one copy their CDs/ISOs to an FTP server?
Have you been able to find the current Suse ISO
images anywhere?  Please let me know, as I would
like to try Suse, but not via the Live CD (try
before buy?) or the FTP installer (lite version?).

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to try Suse, a friend
of mine likes it.  I'm just not sure how free it is.

On the one hand, at
http://www.linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=2
they are still showing Suse at 8.2, but with no x86
ISOs for sale, and a mention of the FTP and Live CD.

On the other hand, at
http://www.linuxcd.org/view_item.php?id_version=373
They show Suse 9.0 Professional, 5 CDs for $10.99.
(Aha, only 5 CDs, I almost missed that.  Is the sixth
CD for Yast and the proprietary stuff, etc.?)

So is it OK to copy CDs 1-5, but then you end up with
Suse without Yast and the other Suse good stuff on CD 6?
Wouldn't that be like Thanksgiving turkey without the
stuffing and cranberry sauce?

Now I'm more confused than before.
Are there any other Suse experts out there who would
like to comment on this?  And what is running Suse
like without "the trimmings"?


Bill Brush wrote:

> I've got a copy of Suse9.0 Pro, and I've read the license, AND talked (irc)
> to people who work for them.
> 
> You can make copies of the CD and redistribute them without a problem, but
> you can't get support for the installation beyond the first workstation you
> use it (support) with.
> 
> I think that Suse would be a very good "beginners" distro because the
> desktop is very nice and everything I've tried to use with it has "just
> worked".  It is a 6 CD set though.
> 
> I could burn a set of CD's for further duplication if anyone would like a
> set.  I can't burn more than one or two though as I'd be using my work
> computer (and blanks) to do it.
> 
> Bill
> 
> 
> 
>                                                                                                            
>                       Terry Bradshaw                                                                       
>                       <angrypuppy at tconl        To:       Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>            
>                       .com>                    cc:                                                         
>                       Sent by:                 Subject:  Re: [olug] Distro Poll on the website             
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>                       .org                                                                                 
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>                       12/04/03 05:54 PM                                                                    
>                       Please respond to                                                                    
>                       Omaha Linux User                                                                     
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>>Actually, I'm wondering the same thing (time) about SuSE.  They don't
>>have downloadable ISO's for a system install.  They only have LiveCD's
>>and an FTP install option unless you buy a box.  Their boxed versions
>>contain non-free software, however, so I don't know if they can be
>>copied and distributed legally.  No matter how we feel about the ethics
>>of it, I think we want to keep it legal.  I don't know...maybe it is
>>fine to copy and distribute SOME of the CDs from the boxed set.
> 
> 
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