Initial Impressions of SuSE 10.1

At work, I use a computer with OpenSuSE as an HTTP and MySQL server for various web applications I develop. I also use this same computer to develop those applications. While we are almost completely a Microsoft house, using SuSE provides me with a much more stable server environment, faster response, and of course, we don't have to buy another Windows Server license.

With the release of OpenSuSE 10.1, I figured now would be a good time to update. 10.1 promised FireFox 1.5, MySQL 5.0, and KDE 3.5. Now I know you can download these packages and install them, or use blah-blah installation source, but I'm not a linux-power-user, and I didn't feel like taking the time for these updates.

I downloaded the first 3 CDs for OpenSuSE 10.1, and installed. The installation went very smoothly, and I was happy to see my SATA drives work without having to use compatibility mode, as I did in 10.0. I was also happy to see my graphic card be properly detected and have hardware acceleration work. I set the proxy settings, update settings, and was done. Smooth little 10.1 installation moving right along.

First off, I was very happy with KDE 3.5. I know the average linux user is more interested in console commands than a streamlined GUI, but I sit infront of a computer 12 hours a day, and damn it, I want to enjoy what I'm looking at.

FireFox 1.5 is a very welcome upgrade, and I noticed it comes with a Beagle extension already installed. While my first instinct was to uninstall it, I'm going to leave it and see how it works. I code for Opera 8.5+ and FireFox 1.5, so having my target browser on my development box and server is going to be a big help.

I was treated to one big upfront disappointment, however. Using OpenSuSE 10.0, I was familiar with YaST Online Update, which was a wonderful feature. In OpenSuSE 10.1, I'm having all sorts of problems with it. It is telling me I need updates for things I don't have installed, doesn't find dependencies for things I do have installed, and simply closes itself if I try to just proceed and update my system.

I got a lot of help from the people at alt.os.linux.suse related to this issue, and apparently 10.1 has quite a different package system from 10.0. While there is a lot of potential to this new system, apparently, it isn't helping me. At least not yet. I like my programs up to date with the latest versions, and security fixes. A couple resources I was pointed to:

• This SuSE Diary on blogspot has a pretty detailed guide to setting up the automatic update feature. While I still couldn't get things to work after following this guide, I learned a lot from it, and I think my issue may be the exception, not the norm.
• The SuSE Linux Wiki has a guide on using Smart as a package manager. I'm reluctant to install a different package manager when it seems like 10.1 already has two, but it looks promising, and may be worth trying if anyone else is having this difficulty.
• The Weekly Rant has an article about using y2pmsh, the old SuSE package manger, with SuSE 10.1.
  

I wish we could standardize on a package management system. Some day...