Re: Should I dump Suse?

From: anc (anc_at_nospam.net)
Date: 05/20/04 

Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 19:33:27 +0100

Chris Carlen wrote:
> Let me start by saying that I have been using Linux as a desktop OS for
> 95% of my computing since kernel ver. 1.2.8, Slackware 3.x, before
> Slackware 95. I learned to use the CLI and administer my system very
> well, but I also like to work with a GUI.
>
> So I've been with Linux a long time, almost 10 years!
> I am a technical computing user. I mostly run CAD, EDA tools like
> SPICE, mathematical modeling programs, embedded CPU development tools,
> and stuff like that. Plus the usual web, email, and basic file
> management.
> But I hate what is happening with Suse 9.1 and KDE 3.2.1. I will be
> installing KDE 3.2.2 tonight, which hopefully will improve it
> dramatically, and it had better because what I have now is almost
> completely unuseable!
>
> The majority of the trouble seems to center on Konqueror and the way KDE
> handles removable devices. It incessantly hangs and pauses for lengthy
> periods of time for every little thing I do in Konqueror. It has done
> ridiculously inconsistent things with an NFS mount point, and the
> handling of a removable USB memory cigar and the mount point directory
> that it creates and destroys (or sometimes not, depending on the phase
> of the moon) when the thing is plugged/unplugged. And KDE has to probe
> the CD and floppy drives every time I click on a directory containing a
> NFS share or the main /media dir. This constant pausing and hanging is
> what has really driven me through the roof and made me so upset that I
> would write such a harsh diatribe.

Hi Chris, I have only been using linux for about 4 years since SuSe 7.0 and
kernel 2.2.14. Currently Im running SuSe 8.2 and dual booting Slackware 9.1
I use SuSe with an updated custom kernel 2.4.26 and kde 3.2.2 but have no
problems with it at all.

Now if you have used Slackware you will know that this is almost a script
free system and some hardware has to be configured by hand, i.e. sound,
network, scanner etc. This means it is not a distro for a beginner. SuSe on
the other hand has its centralised yast tool, which makes it easy to
configure hardware and manages software updates etc.

What I am saying is basically that kde is not linux, kde is a window manager
connected to your X-server. If you have used slackware then surely you must
be able to handle SuSe.

What you need to do is find out whether your problem is hardware or software
related. (It may not be a hardware fault, but hardware that SuSe has
missconfigured).
As most of your problems seem related to kde and konqueror, have you tried
using an alternative window manager i.e. window maker or gnome ?
I also assume you have created a /swap partition.
The next thing I would do is determine if its your network or your removable
USB hard drive. So disconnect both and test system stability.

Then try the USB harddrive, as SuSe uses hotplug, you may have a hotplug
problem. You may be better posting the issues in alt.os.suse.linux
but post your /etc/fstab and details of your hardware.

Should you dump SuSe? - only you can decide that. Take away yast, remove
SuSe helpful scripts, what would you have left... a minimalist system
similar to slack.

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