Why is there no forum for SuSE?????

You can get SuSe ISOs at www.linuxiso.org

Maybe you can find what you are looking for.. they have something for SuSu 9.0... http://www.linuxiso.org/

Originally posted by trickykid And the last time I checked, SuSE is the most common or used distro after Redhat, as its the most popular among Europe users.

I seriously doubt this. There are dozens of Debian based Linuces. Were they counted in the Debian Tally?

After reading this thread from top to bottom, I wanted to chime in with my two cents.

I am a newbie - I have been using Linux for a few months, mostly SuSE 9.0.

I have found some support here, and I can explain why a SuSE forum will be very helpful (but I am not calling for an unsupported forum...)
When I am online, browsing issues, I will often see something and think "Hey! That is pertinent to my installation." It's a good way to learn. Much better than asking a question that has been asked repeatedly.

Because there is no organized folder in which to peruse SuSE specific posts, it takes greater effort to find posts that may be pertinent. I suppose I could do a site:LinuxQuestions.org SuSE using Google, but again, it's an inconvenience.

I have contacted SuSE, as well as Novell, with the following message:

Hello. I have recently installed SuSE 9.0, and I am considering purchasing pro. I have not, however, been able to understand why you are not represented on www.LinuxQuestions.org. I have been advising many friends and co-workers to experience your product, but when it comes time for obtaining support, their options are limited. Perhaps you wish to become a company that charges for support, like Microsoft, and this is why you will not support the call for an official presence at this well known web site. I am respectfully requesting that you reconsider this. By doing so, you will be helping a large number of new SuSE users who will undoubtedly do as I have done, and recommend your product to others. Many of these users will purchase your products, and some will undoubtedly opt for paid manufacturer support. It will benefit all in the long run. Please view the following webpage - this will give you some idea of the number of people who are seeking your contribution at LinuxQuestions.org http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...5&pagenumber=1 Thank you. Sincerely yours, -- XXXXX XXXXX Commonwealth of PA, Department of Public Welfare Office of Information Systems Bureau of Technology Engineering, Computer Management Division XXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXX XXXXXX XXXX (717) XXX-XXXX

I hope that this will help the cause.

Perhaps Jeremy would agree to posting a sticky with a link that spawns an e-mail message to Novell and SuSE with the topic "Request for Official Presence in SuSE Linux Forum on www.LinuxQuestions.org" in order to encourage users to submit an e-mail of their own. Perhaps that sticky thread could also contain a survey concerning how many people have done so, and where they could post their message if they so chose.

I want to thank Jeremy and all the community members for the site, and the support that is available. I look forward to the inclusion of SuSE as an officially represented forum.

Lastly, I would like to address the individual who referred to a PC as "a Tool and not a Toy."

This is true, yet there are many tools that require a skilled operator to make them work properly, and safely. One cannot expect to weld (for example) properly without training and experience, or to utilize a Bridgeport effectively or safely without the same.

I have been a Microsoft Tech for many years. This does not mean that Linux, of any distribution, is an unsatisfactory tool simply because I do not have the experience required to use effectively. The process of learning, to me, is a satisfying one, and it makes the end result that much better. If I chose to deploy a new tool in an enterprise environment, I would be prepared to pay for the "skilled tool operators" to integrate it efficiently. I would not expect to know how to do so simply because I shelled out the money to purchase it. That is a foolish expectation at best.

Update (Thursday March 10, 2004): I just took a look on the SuSE site and found THIS link for SuSE forums.

An eminently sensible post IMHO, ima.

I want to add something from my personal experience with SuSE, though. Living in Germany I use a German distribution simply for the reason, that it comes with some Germany-specific goodies included -- or heavily discounted (like a tax-program).

I usually had difficulties installing SuSE 6.4, SuSE 8.1 and now SuSE 9.0 (on a non-standard configuration, admittedly). Those times I contacted SuSE, were mixed experiences. They tried to help, but some of their communications made it very clear, that my problems were not really their concern and that their support only really covered standard problems and they'd prefer to work unmolested by pesky customers, else I could purchase paid support etc.etc. ...

So, while I like their distributions I do dislike their service and so after a first attempt I never told them about errors and inconsistencies in their distributions -- and there are some (in particular in Yast), you can be sure.

Thus my hope is that they will learn "civilized" conduct eventually by participating here -- the whole site of LQ exudes so much good will and genuine helpfulness, that it can only do them good, provided they do accept in time their "medicine" and learn the spirit.

I received the following reply from Novell today. I provide it for your reference. Please take notice that they specifically have indicated that direct contact can result in the company reevaluating their policy. If you have not already done so, please send a respectful e-mail to Novell and request that they provide representation for an official forum on this site.
Thank you!

Thanks for taking the time to contact us. I am the program manager over Novell's Product Support Forums and your message has been brought to my attention. Let me begin by letting you know I'm aware of many Linux websites that carry SUSE discussion forums as well as many Usenet newsgroups dedicated to SUSE. Here are just a few examples: http://www.linuxforum.com/forums/index.php?showforum=23 http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5874 http://www.atech.me.uk/suseforums/ http://www.kofler.cc/forum/forumthread.php?rootID=98 http://www.linuxgazette.com/node/view/8795 As I said, this is just a few of the many SUSE Linux online discussion areas that exist today. Unfortunately, we don't have the resources to monitor or staff these many discussion areas. What we do have are our own traditional support forums which are staffed by a group of volunteers that have access to Novell's support staff and do their best to help customers or potential customers get their questions answered and issues resolved. These forums can be found at http://support.novell.com/forums under the "SUSE Products" link. If you prefer mailing lists, you can find a link to the traditional SUSE mailing lists at this same URL. This online support is free. We believe it is better to consolidate our resources into making what we have better instead of trying to cover every discussion group that exists. For customers that need something more than user-to-user best effort support, we offer various support programs from basic telephone support to having a dedicated support engineer available to a customer. More details of these types of support programs can be found at http://www.novell.com/services/premium/ I do realize that if you are accustomed to finding what you want on one particular web site, being told that to get what you want you have to go to a different site is inconvenient. I hope you understand why we have decided to provide online discussions in the manner we have chosen. I do believe it's the best use of our resources. I also hope that one of these support/discussion options will fit your needs. Again, thanks for taking the time to contact us. Customers that care enough to contact us often have an impact on the decisions we make. If you have any questions or concerns concerning our online presence, feel free to contact me directly. Kim XXXXXXXXXX Program Manager Novell Product Support Forums Novell Inc., The leading provider of information solutions

Thanks for posting their answer, ima.

The links are informative as well. However, they (Novell/SuSE) do not indicate in which of the fora they participate. And

... our own traditional support forums which are staffed by a group of volunteers that have access to Novell's support staff ...

... volunteers ... access to support staff ... (Novell's or SuSE's btw.?) ... well, that's not terribly impressive now, is it? And Jeremy is trying to serve a real improvement on a platter for free and they hesitate ... Why, they wouldn't even have to outsource to keep it cheap, SuSE has dependencies in Czechia and Hungary ... oh dear ... </irony>

No slights against the Czech and Hungarian workers intended .

As I said in an earlier post, Novell has indicated to me that they are indeed going to participate at LQ. As I get more details I will post them.

--jeremy

WOOT! GW!!

Thanks Jeremy. I was (mistakenly) under the impression that this was still up in the air.

I did not mean to be a 'rabble rouser', and extend an apology if I stirred things up in a negative way.

"Ima"

Thats great, that SuSe is going to give in.. and support a LQ SuSe Forum...

A SuSE forum is a must! I love SuSE, and I tell everyone I know about it. But I have questions, and SuSE's website isn't always very helpful.

I am using SuSE 9.0, so far I have figured out a bunch of things on my own, or with the help of Google, but I would also like to effectively share my hard won wisdom.

SuSE Forum NOW! Please.

It would be nice to have SuSE here
I think their product is great for noobs switching from 'the monopoly' (like me) and I hope they will get even stronger with Novell in the back.

Originally posted by ima Thanks Jeremy. I was (mistakenly) under the impression that this was still up in the air. ...

So was I.

Originally posted by ima ... I did not mean to be a 'rabble rouser', ...

Hey! Who is that rabble you are talking about? Me? I'll get at you ... Somehow it's fun to be roused (rabble), huh SuSE? .

Originally posted by ima ... and extend an apology if I stirred things up in a negative way. ...

Seconded, apologies all around and no harm intended .

Great news, I can't wait.

One thing that might have been omitted here -- SUSE is used a lot in Europe by people who are actually running small networks -- I'm not talking about the "Corporate Enterprise" stuff but small businesses and home users who might have a small home network and some office apps. It's stable and used in productive every day work --- most SUSE users of this type tend to just install the packages and do fairly minor tinkering -- if at all -- whereas a lot of the other distros such as Mandrake, Fedora etc are run a lot by hobbyists who are often tweaking their systems, compiling kernels etc. -- This might be why the numbers of SUSE installations are usually significantly underestimated.

On the whole SUSE is very stable -- its main drawback is that if you DO want to tinker with it it's organised in a different way to a lot of the other distros --- so a SUSE Forum would be GREAT.

I don't think the lack of downloadable ISO's is a real problem since most people have Broadband / ADSL /CABLE internet access and you can install it for free via an FTP install which is very easy to do and explained quite clearly on the main SUSE site.

(If you only have 55 kps -- or slower -- modem internet I doubt whether you would be downloading and burning CD's anyway -- the cost of downloading apart from the time would make buying the CD's a no brainer)