For those who envision Linux and the accompanying apps as a desktop for
the masses, the install is often cited as a cumbersome hurdle. Although
it would be nice to see all the major computer distributors offer Linux
as a preinstalled option, this probably isn't going to happen any time
soon. My experience has been that installing most boxed Linux sets has
become almost a trivial procedure if you accept all the defaults. SuSE
7.2 is no different.
I went to a Caldera demonstration a year or so ago showing how simple
("4 mouse clicks") it is to install their brand. I have to say that the
SuSE 7.2 version was just as simple and easy to do. Configuration, if
you opt not to accept the defaults, was straight-forward.
Decent documentation in the form of 4-5 manuals/booklets is included,
too. When I used SuSE 6.3 a couple years ago, I remember getting
frustrated using their YAST2 configuration program. If you edited
configuration files by hand, YAST2 sometimes refused to work on that
configuration again. This may still be true, but the main manual shows
what is changed in the YAST configuration file and what files are edited
by the backend of YAST (SuSEconfig). Linuxconf with RedHat does the
same thing, but I think SuSE's documentation reveals better what YAST is
doing for those who want to know.
This isn't so much a recommendation for SuSE as it is a optimistic view
that Linux can be a real competitor for the Desktop market.
-Robert
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