[SGVLUG] Box-O'-Linux -- SuSE 9.3 dvd's

[Emerson, Tom]

I may actually have a chance to pay forward on this "box-o-linux" concept -- I finally got around to downloading the SuSE 9.3 "pro" evaluation DVD and managed to burn a copy this morning -- so far as I can tell, the DL was complete and without errors or corruption [I was able to use "mount -o loop" against the .iso file and then tell Yast to consider it "an installation source"]

That said, I can burn a few extra DVD's if there are people interested in this version -- I'm not sure how it compares to the "boxed set" version as Novell/SuSE has been a little unclear on what they mean by "evaluation"  (I didn't see anything like "60 days" or similar "terms" associated with this, and in fact the wording tends to give the impression it is the SAME as the DVD in the box) -- of course, the last time I installed this the "DVD" was double-sided: one side was for 64-bit processors and the other for 32, and it suddenly struck me that I don't remember which "side" I downloaded

...checking SuSE's site...


--- hold the phone -- the site has a new look since two days ago!!! ---

hmmm... there is a link to "opensuse.org", seems this will get you the full retail version [albiet delayed from initial release, I imagine, which I have no problem with...] as well as a preview of SuSE 10.0 [think "unstable..."]  after following that link, I see the mirror I downloaded this from before [mirrors.kernel.org, believe it or not...] and it looks like the md5sum matches:

# md5sum SUSE-9.3-Eval-DVD.iso
04d2ebe4e0b8b00bc83cdc180a79e667  SUSE-9.3-Eval-DVD.iso

the link on the mirror page lists this as "DVD ISO image (32bit + 64bit, 4.3 GB)", so perhaps they are combined in the "retail" version now...

(OK, I feel better now -- glad I didn't waste a couple days downloading only to get a version I couldn't use with this processor...)

Now, for an even higher rating on the "wow" meter: see this page
http://www.opensuse.org/index.php/Project_overview

where they state:

   "...With the launch of the openSUSE project, SUSE Linux is now developed in an open model - public development builds, releases and sources will be posted frequently here and you will have access to our Bugzilla database for defect reporting..."

(and the astute readers will note this is an "index.PHP" page -- further investigation down the rabbit hole here reveals "...This page is built by MediaWiki...")