Diff. between OpenSuSE and SuSE Linux Enterprise

[Mário Gamito]

Hi,

For years i was a SuSE Linux user, somewhere between 5.3 and 9.0, i believe.
Then, i changed for reasons that doesn't matter now.

I'm changing jobs and i'm going to work on Enterprise Linux.
I'm already downloading OpenSuSE too see hop it goes now.

My questions is what are the differences between OpenSuSE and SuSE
Enterprise Linux ?

Is something like RHEL/Fedora ?

Warm Regards,
Mário Gamito

[Brett I. Holcomb]

I assume you are talking SLED (Enterprise Desktop) and OpenSuse. My
understanding when I checked was that SLED would not be updated as much since
it's meant for the Enterprise world and they do not typically do updates on
the same schedule we would for a home or some other system. An Enterprise
usually rolls out a desktop setup and keeps it until they check and certify
any changes. SLED will be like that - updates checked throughly but not as
often as OpenSusue. OpenSuse will be for those who want a tested but updated
more often release. I understand there are differences in what comes with
SLED vs OpenSUSE.

Fedora is really an experimental test distro for RHEL so comparing OpenSuse
with it is not really accurate since OpenSuse releases are stable, production
ready.

Post by Mário Gamito
Hi,
For years i was a SuSE Linux user, somewhere between 5.3 and 9.0, i
believe. Then, i changed for reasons that doesn't matter now.
I'm changing jobs and i'm going to work on Enterprise Linux.
I'm already downloading OpenSuSE too see hop it goes now.
My questions is what are the differences between OpenSuSE and SuSE
Enterprise Linux ?
Is something like RHEL/Fedora ?
Warm Regards,
Mário Gamito

[jdd]

Post by Mário Gamito
Hi,
For years i was a SuSE Linux user, somewhere between 5.3 and 9.0, i
believe.
Then, i changed for reasons that doesn't matter now.
I'm changing jobs and i'm going to work on Enterprise Linux.
I'm already downloading OpenSuSE too see hop it goes now.
My questions is what are the differences between OpenSuSE and SuSE
Enterprise Linux ?

SLED is mostly an openSUSE with the Gnome desktop (see the
10.2 Gnome desktop).

The other special Novell product is Zen, a complete
supervisor programm, I don't know if it's included in SLED

jdd

[Jay Smith]

The real major difference is support.

OpenSUSE is free and meant to be used as a desktop Linux.It's not suited for
enterprise usage because it's unstable, always changing, there's a lot to keep up
with. SLED on the other hand is pretty much standard. You get a few Service Packs
every so often, but for the most part, what you see is what you get.

On the otherside, The only support you get on OpenSUSE is community support and
maybe any literature you can find off of Amazon or Ebay. SLED, you get support
from Novell when you need them.

When choosing between the two, think about money, adventurous spirit, and need
for support. If you think you'll need a great deal of support, get SLED, however
it costs about $50. It isn't as up to speed as OpenSuSE is so if you want to have
fun and play with Linux, get OpenSUSE. SLED is just supposed to provide a more
stable Linux environment for businesses.

If you are a true blue Linux user, go for OpenSUSE, if you want a steady
environment use SLED. Of course, to many linux users, that level of steadiness is
boring. So if you are used to the old SuSE, get OpenSuSE.

Post by jdd

Post by Mário Gamito
Hi,
For years i was a SuSE Linux user, somewhere between 5.3 and 9.0, i
believe.
Then, i changed for reasons that doesn't matter now.
I'm changing jobs and i'm going to work on Enterprise Linux.
I'm already downloading OpenSuSE too see hop it goes now.
My questions is what are the differences between OpenSuSE and SuSE
Enterprise Linux ?

SLED is mostly an openSUSE with the Gnome desktop (see the
10.2 Gnome desktop).
The other special Novell product is Zen, a complete
supervisor programm, I don't know if it's included in SLED
jdd
--
http://www.dodin.net
http://dodin.org/mediawiki/index.php/GPS_Lowrance_GO
--

[Kenneth Schneider]

Post by jdd

Post by Mário Gamito
Hi,
For years i was a SuSE Linux user, somewhere between 5.3 and 9.0, i
believe.
Then, i changed for reasons that doesn't matter now.
I'm changing jobs and i'm going to work on Enterprise Linux.
I'm already downloading OpenSuSE too see hop it goes now.
My questions is what are the differences between OpenSuSE and SuSE
Enterprise Linux ?

SLED is mostly an openSUSE with the Gnome desktop (see the
10.2 Gnome desktop).

Gnome is the default but KDE is available for install.

[Thomas Hertweck]

Post by Brett I. Holcomb
[...]
Fedora is really an experimental test distro for RHEL so comparing OpenSuse
with it is not really accurate since OpenSuse releases are stable, production
ready.

You're kidding, right?

[Robert Smits]

Post by jdd
SLED is mostly an openSUSE with the Gnome desktop (see the
10.2 Gnome desktop).

But you can choose KDE desktop, right?

Bob

[Brett I. Holcomb]

No. My understanding and the explanation I was given is that OpenSuse
releases - not the betas - are much more stable than Fedora Core is.

Post by Thomas Hertweck

Post by Brett I. Holcomb
[...]
Fedora is really an experimental test distro for RHEL so comparing
OpenSuse with it is not really accurate since OpenSuse releases are
stable, production ready.

You're kidding, right?

[jdd]

Post by Kenneth Schneider
Gnome is the default but KDE is available for install.

yes, but the Novell work on human interface is for Gnome
only, and only Gnome is advertised in Novell's meetings
about SLES/SLED

so a people coming from outside to a default SLED system is
prone to have to cope with Gnome :-(

jdd

[Felix Miata]

Post by Brett I. Holcomb

Post by Thomas Hertweck

Post by Brett I. Holcomb
Fedora is really an experimental test distro for RHEL so comparing
OpenSuse with it is not really accurate since OpenSuse releases are
stable, production ready.

You're kidding, right?

No. My understanding and the explanation I was given is that OpenSuse
releases - not the betas - are much more stable than Fedora Core is.

Updating on Fedora has a different meaning than on other distros. My
latest updates to Fedora 5, the release previous to the most recent, and
well over 6 months old at the time I updated, got me a 2.6.18-1.2200
kernel to replace the 2.6.15-1.2054 FC5 was released with. Surely such
software updating that involves more than just security updates can't be
as stable.

[Brett I. Holcomb]

As long as the updates are to stable released versions I don't consider that a
problem. For the kernel I do my own updates by downloading and building and
don't allow the system to update for me. For anything else if there is a new,
released, non-beta version I'll probably update to it anyway. I do not do
alphas, betas, release candiates, etc.

Post by Felix Miata

Post by Brett I. Holcomb

Post by Brett I. Holcomb
Fedora is really an experimental test distro for RHEL so comparing

No. My understanding and the explanation I was given is that OpenSuse
releases - not the betas - are much more stable than Fedora Core is.

Updating on Fedora has a different meaning than on other distros. My
latest updates to Fedora 5, the release previous to the most recent, and
well over 6 months old at the time I updated, got me a 2.6.18-1.2200
kernel to replace the 2.6.15-1.2054 FC5 was released with. Surely such
software updating that involves more than just security updates can't be
as stable.
--
"Let your conversation be always full of grace." Colossians 4:6 NIV
Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409
Felix Miata *** http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/

[Thomas Hertweck]

Post by Brett I. Holcomb

Post by Thomas Hertweck

Post by Brett I. Holcomb
[...]
Fedora is really an experimental test distro for RHEL so comparing
OpenSuse with it is not really accurate since OpenSuse releases are
stable, production ready.

You're kidding, right?

No. My understanding and the explanation I was given is that OpenSuse
releases - not the betas - are much more stable than Fedora Core is.

Or in other words: you have no experiences with FC systems and (as it
seems) with production systems in general but you make the statement
that "opensuse releases are much more stable than FC releases and
opensuse releases are ready for production". Did I get this right?
Well, although I like opensuse I think reality has significantly
differed from your statement in 2006...

Cheers, Th.

PS: Brett, please read
http://www.river.com/users/share/etiquette/edit.html before you reply to
any other email on this list. No top-posting, please.

[J Sloan]

Post by Jay Smith
The real major difference is support.
OpenSUSE is free and meant to be used as a desktop Linux.It's not suited for
enterprise usage because it's unstable, always changing, there's a lot to keep up
with. SLED on the other hand is pretty much standard. You get a few Service Packs
every so often, but for the most part, what you see is what you get.

Actually, the difference between SLED 10 and opensuse 10.1 is that SLED 10 is
desktop client only, while opensuse 10.1 is much broader in scope - not only
client, but server, development system, and everything else. For the most part
it's the same code base, but there are a few extra tweaks on SLED. We had sled
on some dev machines here, but the techs didn't like it "where's my apache web
server, where's my j2ee, where's my mysql?" and they had me nuke SLED and
install suse 10.1, which made them happy.

SLES on the other hand is much broader than SLED, and better tested than
opensuse, and it's more expensive. IIRC the kernel has some extra performance
patches, and of course it's officially supported by 3rd party vendors.

As for opensuse being unstable, I've found it to be pretty solid. As far as
"always changing", that is under the control of the administrator, but last I
checked, my suse 10.1 servers were still suse 10.1 - they had not changed into
anything else, and they won't unless the administrator decides to change them.

Post by Jay Smith
On the otherside, The only support you get on OpenSUSE is community support and
maybe any literature you can find off of Amazon or Ebay. SLED, you get support
from Novell when you need them.

The support from Novell is basically there to make managers feel good. We've
had 24/7 support from Novell for our SLES servers, but we really don't ever
need to talk to those folks. If you've got local linux talent on hand, it's a
tossup, but if you've got the budget, it's worthwhile to go for the enterprise
version.

Joe

[Lennart Börjeson]

Post by Thomas Hertweck
PS: Brett, please read
http://www.river.com/users/share/etiquette/edit.html before you reply to
any other email on this list. No top-posting, please.

Please note that the document referred to in that URL does not in any way
forbid top-posting. In fact, it doesn't forbid any style at all, but only
encourages posters to edit quotes, and discourages certain patterns, but I
can't find anything in that document against a sensibly quoted top-post.

/Lennart

PS: It also discourages the use of PS. ;-)

PPS: But anyway, who'd really expect 'netters to adher to rules? <:-)

[Kenneth Schneider]

Post by Lennart Börjeson

Post by Thomas Hertweck
PS: Brett, please read
http://www.river.com/users/share/etiquette/edit.html before you reply to
any other email on this list. No top-posting, please.

Please note that the document referred to in that URL does not in any way
forbid top-posting.

Then try this one:

http://en.opensuse.org/Opensuse_mailing_list_netiquette

It as well is not a "rule" but a recommendation so that the archives are
easier to follow.

[Carlos E. R.]

Post by Robert Smits

Post by jdd
SLED is mostly an openSUSE with the Gnome desktop (see the
10.2 Gnome desktop).

But you can choose KDE desktop, right?

You can choose both gnome and kde on both the opensuse and enterprise
versions.

- --
Cheers,
Carlos E. R.

[Jerry Feldman]

On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:03:58 -0800

Post by J Sloan

Post by Jay Smith
The real major difference is support.
OpenSUSE is free and meant to be used as a desktop Linux.It's not suited for
enterprise usage because it's unstable, always changing, there's a lot to keep up
with. SLED on the other hand is pretty much standard. You get a few Service Packs
every so often, but for the most part, what you see is what you get.

Actually, the difference between SLED 10 and opensuse 10.1 is that SLED 10 is
desktop client only, while opensuse 10.1 is much broader in scope -

SLED is coordinated with SLES. both are intended for the enterprise,
and as youall mentioned, SLED and SLES are more stable, with firmly
scheduled releases. OpenSuSE has more frequent releases, and is
certainly more bleeding edge.

[Moby]

Post by Jerry Feldman
On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:03:58 -0800

Post by J Sloan

Post by Jay Smith
The real major difference is support.
OpenSUSE is free and meant to be used as a desktop Linux.It's not suited for
enterprise usage because it's unstable, always changing, there's a lot to keep up
with. SLED on the other hand is pretty much standard. You get a few Service Packs
every so often, but for the most part, what you see is what you get.

Actually, the difference between SLED 10 and opensuse 10.1 is that SLED 10 is
desktop client only, while opensuse 10.1 is much broader in scope -

SLED is coordinated with SLES. both are intended for the enterprise,
and as youall mentioned, SLED and SLES are more stable, with firmly
scheduled releases. OpenSuSE has more frequent releases, and is
certainly more bleeding edge.

Here is something I had posted on the Novell discussion list in an
attempt to clarify matters regarding the many Linux incarnations from
Novell. Hope this helps:

To date, as I understand it, here is the current taxonomy of Novell
"Linux obfuscated" products:

1) OES: Open Enterprise Server. Runs on either a NetWare or Linux
kernel. Has all assorted Novell goodies, such as NSS, LUM, NetStorage,
etc. OES with the Linux kernel is based on SuSE Linux 9 - so you get
older versions (older than what ships with opensuse for example) of
Apache, MySQL, PHP etc. This is a commercial product. One thing to
note, the "fully functioning" (as in providing functions other than just
eDirectory) NCP engine is only available in this family of Linux named
products from Novell - so people with various Novell clients can connect
to OES boxes via the Novell client and consume services via NCP.

2) SLES: SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, and it's second cousin twice
removed on the mum's side, SLED (SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) are
pretty much all "Linux" (meaning much less Novell product contributions
than for OES). These come with some Novell goodies, namely LUM and a
Novell customized Samba that hooks into eDirectory easily (as opposed to
not as easily if you were to use some other Linux from Novell, such as
OpenSuse). There is no NSS, NetStorage etc available for this. SLES
and SLED are commercial products. There is no NCP engine for SLES or
SLED, other than limited NCP business installed and used if and when one
installs eDirectory on this family of products.

3) OpenSuSE: This is the "truly open" (free, open source, no
commercial entanglements out of the box). You get some Novell
contributed enhancements, such as Novell's OpenOffice which has better
integration with MS Office. No NSS, no LUM, no NetStorage etc. This
product is not commercial. There is no NCP engine for SLES or SLED,
other than limited NCP business installed and used if and when one
installs eDirectory on this family of products.

The NCP differences between item 1 versus items 2 and 3 above are
important. Installing eDirectory on any Linux gives you a bare bones
NCP engine that is used by eDirectory itself. eDirectory updates to
Linux often update this NCP engine. This "eDirectory only" NCP engine
is different from the fully functional NCP engine included in the OES
family - so, for example, one has to be very very careful installing
eDirectory updates to OES boxes for fear that one may inadvertently
replace the fully functioning OES NCP engine with the eDirectory only
NCP engine shipped in an eDirectory update.

Hope the above clears up some confusion as to the myriad Linux and
"Linux like" offerings from Novell - it took me quite some time to
finally get an understanding. Not sure how long this scenario will last
before it is change once again and we get hit with a new plethora of
names and re-bundling of products.

--Moby