# The “Slab” menu — now upstream in KDE, but still unique to openSUSE / SLED on GNOME

SLAB is specific for GNOME. KDE had/has Kickoff, AFAIT (T = think).

Please, consider a redesign of GNOME slab menu, to remove the application browser, which is a non-sense in terms of speed of use. I would like to see something more similar to what KDE 4 has, which is a lot more functional.

Thanks,
Alberto

+ Speed
+ Better optimized kernels for today’s cpus (dual core, quad core, etc.) and not “Generic CPU”
+ Better support for dualhead configuration

How about an instant-on linux or something close like… http://digg.com/linux_unix/Linux_Boots_In_2_97_Seconds_2

A partnership with a harddisk vendor using HD disk-based flash or something. Suspend and resume are now excellent and fast, but a Mac like bootstrap would rock!

I know > Software Repos in the openSUSE Build Service < has been mentioned, I still think one should advertise the backports
Windows users aren’t used to waiting for the new firefox for 9 months or other bleeding edge software (drivers anyone?), they want their important applications “fresh”
And normally this is a hard problem for linux systems, having to pull all the sources and compile yourself, but the opensuse buildservice does that for you and for many different opensuse versions/architectures
This really is a huge difference to the other distros, or is there something similar existing for public use anywhere else?

What I am wondering is if you want to target every imaginable user with “advertisement”, most opensuse propoints are specific to a certain range of users, maybe when comming up with lists split them into “interest groups”?

Also SuSE used to have some very week points in the past always brought up when one suggests it (the old SoftwareManagment Stack, YaST used to overwrite custom changes way back in time…), maybe a “myths” or “cleanup” information page would help?

This is more of a wish rather than something I’m positive can be easily accomplished by one distro alone, no matter how good or prolific.

What I would like is more “transparency” between the different DEs. That is, it shouldn’t matter if I use Gnome or KDE (or fluxbox, or…well you get the idea). What I mean is that it would be great if the apps to a greater extent than today would adapt to the environment they’re being run in. That is, if I run K3B in Gnome it should ideally use the gtk/gnome fileselector and other dialogues such as the printing one. And the opposite if I decide to use firefox in KDE. Just two examples, but still.

I realize this would be very hard if not impossible to pull off, but I can dream…admittedly, often it is impossible to tell a gnome/gtk/kde/qt app apart at first glance but there are always some instances where it is glaringly obvious. Not a problem in itself, if you’re used to it. It can be a huge problem when, like me, you have to train people of various technical proficiency to use a Linux desktop.

Hi,

SuSE was my first distro. The guy who introduced me to FOSS, Holden Aust, to this day loves openSUSE. And I really like a lot of what Novell has done to advance SUSE commercially and as a community.

And yet I always have a hard time getting software via YAST. Maybe it’s just me. I am a relatively stupid computer user. I know about 20 or so script commands. That’s all. But I seem to have a really hard time getting the repositories right, and I get so confused that I can’t even figure out how I got screwed up. So for what it is worth, if you wanted to make openSUSE easier to use, I would say focus there.

I don’t even get the benefit of the one-click install because the repositories usually end up goofed up on my installs.

For some reason, I don’t seem to have these problems on GNOME Ubuntu. And in the rare event that I do have those problems, I am usually able to call up or email one of the many members of our local LUG who uses Ubuntu, and they call walk me through it. With openSUSE, I usually need to bring the computer to an openSUSE guru, who are becoming increasingly hard to find.

I will always have a fond space in my heart for all things SUSE and for Novell. And I know lots of people who swear by openSUSE. I hope that my feedback is not to vague as to be unhelpful.

c u

Christian Einfeldt,
Producer, The Digital Tipping Point

For me the the unique thing about openSuse, compared to other distro’s is that it detects my graphics card! Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Fedora, Mepis and others all fail. The only other one that also gets this right is Mandriva.

Apart from this openSuse looks and feels like a polished “proper” working environment, not a toy.

Andy

OpenSuse looks and feels very ‘professional’ it indeed separates itself from the ‘hobby-distros’. Just saying that ‘Yast’ is one difference is about the understatement of the year, Yast is the VERY reason I have used OpenSuse/Suse for years, nothing else comes close. And as other Opensuse users know, I am most definately not talking only about Software Management module, but about the other great modules like Sax2 and Network services! Yast makes linux administration and system configuration very easy, big thanks for everyone involved btw!

Things you can do better:

- release 11.2 later in the year in order to ship KDE 4.3.x
- polish plasma+KDE default look!! A new theme and something different to ozone is really needed.
- rework Yast. Its modules are quite confusing, some could be merged. It could use an UI polishing since the “categories=>subcategories”-think is quite old and not very intuitive.
- work on boot performance. 10.3 was a step forward, but there is still space to improve.
- reinform yourself about the project: Slab in KDE? Kickoff is default, which is very different. The Gnome-menu is is IMO not quite usable.

Despite those things, it is a very recommendable Distro.

You forgot a item:

* Treacherous and community harming exclusive patent deal with Microsoft

Please provide the proper support for the mp3, codecs, libdvdcss etc. With open suse 11.0 I faced several issues with my new desktop

Most of the time the audio doesn’t work. I think we have to enhance here a much similar to ubuntu,

DDave

It just works. Since I’ve been using it since 5.3, I know some of the little things about Yast. And yes, I was one of the complainers when they switched from the old ncurses only yast to Yast2. Now, I’ve gotten used to it, and all is well. I don’t run real exotic hardware, and I’ve never had a problem with SuSE recognizing everything.

I think… for it’s kernel
It is realy full of drivers i need.

But i got problems with SUSE… Always i seen that KDE … as i thing slowly than others.

My mind.

There is not a good free hosting control panel for opensuse.Please develop a GPL HCP.
Thanks

Some of the trouble with YaST was already mentioned, but I’d like to add a few comments to it as well:
* NTP - Client only setup: most DSL/Cable/ISDN Routers have an working ntpd - Please make it EASY to use it, same with DNS-Proxy on those Routers, even if you install a client/server with NO dhcp-client, maybe implement a possibility to use a dhcp-request to gather usefull defaults during setup?

* Software selection - Search - example: search for “mail”. The “Answer” you get should contain at least 3 categories: Server/Deamons, Clients, Tools for ease-to-use and clear, non-ambiguous selection. Yes, the pro doesn’t need the categories, but for the beginner it’s a great help to have the division into these categories.

* Many users use multifunction/mutlimedia keyboards nowadays. Please give hints on how to use this extra keys (during keyboard-lang-selection?)

Thanks. Yes I know for 11.1 it’s to late, but as a goal for 11.2? Please think about.

What matters for me are none of the things in the proposed list,
it’s the quality of the customer support.

Yes Suse ships many of the same packages as many other
distros, so the one place AFAIK Suse can and does stand out
is getting bugs fixed fast.

I selected Suse after I got tired of Redhat not fixing bugs.
I have had no reason to change my primary Linux distro these
last three years or so.

Here are some things I would like to see in the upcoming version:

- Integrate the build-service search into yast (killer-feature!)
- Keep on polishing yast-software management. It’s already so much better than the 10.x series, if you guys keep improving it (maybe refactor all these icons in yast a bit), it will beat Aptitude.
- Make sure Dual-head, Beamer-attachment and the like work out of the box (haven’t tried this with 11.1 yet), including a nice XRandr integration into KDE4
- Keep polishing Networkmanager (WiFi, UMTS, Modem, VPN, LAN, cell phone as modem (?)) should work flawlessly
- Faster boot time
- Better Java-integration into the KDE desktop (double-click to run an executable jar…)
- Keep pushing open-source Graphics drivers forward (one of the major annoyances)

Some software packages I would like to see included:
- Freemind (absolutely great app)

And one last point I would like to make. Many of my friends prefer to stay on Windows because of the much better gaming situation. Therefore, I suggest this rather political undertaking of convincing (together with other distros, maybe) major gaming studios to bring more games to linux, given that the big linux players provide them with a stable API to build upon. Also, I think (considering gaming is _THE_ reason for some to stay on windows), Novell should hire someone who is explicitly responsible for taking care of the gaming situation on openSuse, maintaining a channel where almost all games for linux can be installed without hassle (I know it’s already there for the major games). I suggest to start with the “TA spring engine” and a couple mods like P.U.R.E..

I sure love openSuse, keep up the great work.

Hello,
is it possible to have the opensuse project include in its tv card
installer the right source to get data from ?
it looks like the installers often times do not do their job properly
for Yast does not have all tv cards in it, so why do not directly use a
list up to date and take it where it is the freshest ?
: tv modules sources according to each kernel gives an up to date
information of the supported tv cards for one kernel , therefore it
seems a good choice to get the data from there and thus ease the install
process for tv cards hardware.
My current case : my provideo pv952 seems supported but the installer
can’t find the tuner even though i have the right modules in lsmod :
saa7314 and tveeprom to auto detect the tuner.

Thanks A l.o.t

I love OpenSuse and have been using it for a few years now, but I have to mention that despite the existence of Build Service there are lots of packages that are missing in OpenSuse, but are present in other distros (e.g. Debian). I am talking about some scientific/engineering software. Yes, I understand that it’s all driven by enthusiasts and I am not complaining, just mentioning.

Improve Yast2 to support better installation of software in regards to the build services. Like get openldap and be able to select a version from anywhere in the build.
Provide better upgrade options within a distro. Like update packages to newer versions during the life of the distro.
Keep the stability. Improve sound integration into OpenSuse. My wireless works, my net card works, my graphics cards works. My sound does not work reliable. So please focus on that.
I know that there are 3+ different systems for sound and none of them works reliable. Get more VOIP into the distro.
Make it easier to install for newbees, this will attract a lot of semi geeks.
Try to get the gaming community to deliver the top games for Linux. That is what keeps a lot of people on Windows.
Look at business applications, accounting, finance.

I think one of the big “pros” of openSUSE is the Co-operation between the community and development/ management. Most parts of openSUSE are still in the hand of Novell - but the Managers like AJ, Adrian or Coolo do a really great job being visible to the community and responsive to the communities wishes. Have a look at the opensuse-{project,factory,…} mailinglists and just search for one of the three mentioned people: you’ll find a lot of mails from them declaring their goals and discussion feature requests with the community.

Even on other parts of the distribution like GNOME, KDE or Education - you’ll always find people from SUSE/Novell which drive the processes internally and are in good contact to the community outside.

Have a look at other distributions like Fedora or Ubuntu and try to compare their “public policy” with the one of openSUSE.

My additional (maybe subjective) impression is that (open)SUSE’s developers use their official email address to talk with upstream - at least many RedHat/Fedora developers try to hind behind a more anonymous address (why?).

Like a couple of folk here, I switched to SUSE from Red Hat mostly because there were bugs that didn’t seem to get addressed. That was a long time ago now, and the system I use, the job that I do and so on have changed somewhat, but I keep using openSUSE because it works well. Indeed, version 11.0 is a lot more stable than some of the distros I started with!

The one disappointment for me was that I wasn’t impressed with KDE 4 which was sluggish and buggy. It was bad enough on my main server system but when I loaded it on a slower machine, one which happily ran KDE 3 and all the standard GUI shells on the Live CD, it had a really hard time keeping up. Some jobs would suffer badly, and the desktop would periodically hang completely. I did give Gnome a go but I eventually gravitated back to KDE 3 which I still find to be pretty good (I suppose that’s high praise from an old RISC OS user!)

I really hope, therefore, that the new release of KDE 4 is an improvement. I won’t mind giving up my existing GUI setup if it is (well, KDE 3, anyway. It’ll be a snowy day in hades before I let RISC OS go!)

and last, but not least, cross target support in OBS soon.

Pros:
- being the one with the least bugs IMHO
- zypper
- sax (i gave up searching equivalents in other distros)
- good biarch support (in Debian/amd64 for comparison, many a 32-bit baselib for x86_64 is missing)

When I started using computers in 2000 the first linux distribuition that worked was SuSE 7 and after that every other release of SuSE 8,9, SUSELED 10 and open SUSE 9,10,11.MANDRAKE has been an on off affair. MANDRIVA,FORESIGHT,SABAYON,FEDORA,MINT and PCLOS have become usable to me in the last 3 years, only this year UBUNTU 8.04 has installed properly. Since 2000 then I have used SUSE as my REAL Distribution, Yast is so easy for me that I do not understand the negative comments about it, I very rarely use command line and am not a wiz.KDE4.1.3 ROCKS, hurra!THANKS everyone at SUSE and NOVELL, keep the GOOD WORK

It could be worse.