I think SuSE's problem here is PR. SuSE have their job cut out simply
because they are European. RH, being in the US, have a vast market on their
doorstep (with free local calls for ftp not exactly a disincentive either).
Nobody wants to throw their hats (pardon the pun) into the ring with an
unknown - RH started getting their name in the mags, so they start picking
up more publicity when third-party companies announce tie-ins, so more
publicity, etc.. RH shouldn't be knocked for their corporate vision and
market penetration. Rather, it is down to SuSE to start a media blitz of
announcements, interviews (everyone can name RH's CEO, but who is the boss
of SuSE??) and approaching the hardware vendors to look at producing systems
with SuSE pre-installed. I have used both RH & SuSE, and found SuSE 5.2 far
easier to work with as a newbie - thank God for Yast !!
In fact, SuSE should really angle their promos at the ease of installation &
admin thanks to Yast, that way more of the newbie market will be captured by
the Chameleon rather than disappearing into the Red Hat tide. Personally I'd
love to see SuSE break through into the big time rather than languishing in
a backwater. For my own part, we have founded a local Linux user group
(Spire Linux User Group, for anyone in the Chesterfield/Sheffield (UK) area)
where I evangelise the system, but that's almost preaching to the converted
anyhow. What SuSE need to do is to act now, before RH really DO become
synonymous with Linux and the other distribs wither on the vine. I'm not
comparing RH with M$ directly here (RH Linux is still Linux, but with "bits
in"), but isn't this what happened with Win3 ? The software came bundled,
wasn't particularly easy to use or effective as an "OS", but still trounced
the opposition by sheer market penetration. Perhaps if we'd all bought OS/2
we'd be burning effegies of Lou Gerstner instead.
Me, I'm waiting for SuSE 6 to pop through my letter box. I have kernel 2.2.0
on my system anyhow, as well as an updated Samba, StarOffice 5, Wordperfect
8, KDE 1 etc, so the boxed set probably won't do much beyond migrating me to
glibc2, and hence RH compatability. BTW, what does "kernel 2.2 ready"
actually mean - to me, simply that you've space on /usr/src for another
source tree.
TTFN
Paul.
On 10 February 1999 13:46, Chris Martin [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] wrote:
>
> I couldn't agree more with this. I have to admit that despite the fact
that
> SuSE has been very good to me (as a product), the recent total lack of
> attention to detail surrounding 6.0 and the fact that RedHat is exploding
> forward give me many doubts about SuSE as a company. Ultimately, in this
> consumer driven world, the only way products hang around, even when they
are
> good/great like SuSE, is to have the coplementary good/great backing
through
> various support channels and, of course, things like an up to date and
> comprehensive web site and, generally, a strong and attentive company
> backing it. And, one must remember the mantra invoked by most strong
companies
> (RedHat?), IMAGE, IMAGE IMAGE Else, like someone on here so correctly
said,
> SuSE becomes the Amiga, the OS2, etc. I like SuSE a lot, but I am feeling
less
> and less like putting up with being in the minority's minority (even given
that
> I have a slightly better product) and with difficulties in getting what I
want
> when I want it (like RPM's! and up to date WebPages). If SuSE doesn't
shift
> into high gear, I fear that even your above average computer user, who
> appreciates what SuSE has to offer over other distbns, will find
themselves
> nonetheless considering other distbns for these myriad reasons.
>
> To end this all on a nice note: Go SuSE!
>
>
>
> On 10-Feb-99 Zulfiqar Naushad wrote:
> >
> > I couldn't have said it better.
> >
> > SuSE , I personally think, is a better product than RH, but seeing that
they
> > do not promote their product well in NA really really does hurt them
where it
> > hurts most. RH is almost synonymous with Linux, and vice versa. In
fact, a
> > newbie friend of mine didn't know that there was a company other than RH
that
> > produced Linux [distros].
> >
> > And yes, the american site of SuSE is a shame!! I mean it.
www.suse.de/e is
> > much better and much up to date. Why can't they just mirror the site to
the
> > american version, with some changes of course.
> >
> > ps. Gerry, I noticed that you are a Shaw Wave customer, so am I.
> >
> > I just wanted to ask where did you get your SuSE package? I got mine
from
> > Chapters [Highway7 and Woodbine] for only 45 bucks.
> >
> > I noticed that Chapters is now carrying the CALDERA OPEN LINUX 1.3 BASE
> > version, but the price is a whopping 110 Canadian Dollars. JEEZ!!!
> >
> > Gerry Doris wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> 6.0 has been released in Europe but Suse haven't bothered to update
their
> >> NA website in months. There is still the same old tired description of
> >> what were going to be treated to...and much of it is wrong (ie. will
ship
> >> with 2.2 kernel, will be totally 2.2 kernel ready...). I've heard
rumours
> >> that 6.0 is actually shipping in NA but you wouldn't know it from
anything
> >> Suse does. Most companies would be making press releases all over the
> >> place???
> >>
> >> Sorry if I'm being overly critical but there are other people working
> >> very very hard to get my attention and $$$. If Suse thinks that just
> >> tossing a product into the market (even if it's a superior product)
will
> >> win the day, well, they have a lot to learn.
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -
> > To get out of this list, please send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
> > this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e
> > Check out the SuSE-FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/ and the
> > archiv at http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html
>
> ------------------------------------------
> E-Mail: Chris Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: 10-Feb-99
> Time: 08:29:37
>
> ** Powered by SuSE Linux. You want it?! **
>
> http://www.suse.com | http://www.linux.org
>
> ------------------------------------------
> -
> To get out of this list, please send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
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> Check out the SuSE-FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/ and the
> archiv at http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html
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