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SuSE Linux ppc Interview Part 2
| Mark: | That is great news to hear you are compatible with linuxppc/ydl. Did SuSE work with any of the other ppc linux developers in any way? |
| Lenz: | Yes, we are in contact with the other ppc linux developers. |
| Olaf: | Mostly with the kernel hacks. There is an irc channel on EFNet, so we are in contact. We should have done that earlier. Since there are not many developers it is absolutely necessary. |
| Mark: | Yes. I agree. It is nice to see developers working together to make linux better for everyone. Did you use the linuxppc reference release at all? |
| Olaf: | Uli used the linuxppc release for the first macs, rel4 or so. We took some patches here and there from debian or linuxppc, but most stuff we did on our own. |
| Mark: | It is good to see someone else contributing to ppc development, especially more than just by adding their distro. Will these software archives also be available to download online, possibly as iso images? |
| Lenz: | Yes, we will offer an one-CD evaluation ISO, as well as the full download edition. The ISO does not contain all the packages from the full version and there is no printed manual and no support, but the eval is fully updatable via ftp. |
| Olaf: | It will be like the intel or axp version, after some weeks it is available from the ftp mirrors. |
| Mark: | SuSE is a very popular distro on the x86 platform, but it is not quite like any of the other distros currently available on the ppc . Do you think that many dedicated ppc linux users will be compelled to switch? |
| Olaf: | Some may switch, but there will be many more new users. We have more internationalisation support, german native, french and so on. X11 on SuSE ppc works in all available i386 languages. |
| Mark: | Yes. SuSE has always had strong international support. |
| Lenz: | But we certainly hope to attract people to our distribution! SuSE Linux is the most comprehensive distribution available. |
| Mark: | There is one thing that is currently sorely missing from linux on the ppc platform...Has SuSE made any progress (or attempt) in adding HFS+ (Mac OS Extended format) filesystem support to linux on ppc? |
| Olaf: | No, we didn't, but there are some people who are working on hfs+. I don't know the current state. |
| Lenz: | But support for HFS+ would be a great benefit. |
| Mark: | Do you feel that the high availability of iso images of linux has helped or hurt linux development? In that I mean has it taken away from direct sales of cd's? |
| Lenz: | This is hard to tell. We hope, that people will go for the full package, if they like the evaluation copy. But for sure it helps to spread the word! |
| Mark: | Yes. I like the way SuSE has done this, as opposed to other distros that give you the full version but no real support or documentation. |
| Lenz: | There are mixed feeling about our current manual. Some people really like it, others think it's too technical. |
| Mark: | A linux manual is a very hard thing to write. You can write for the strict newbie, but this does not help the advanced users. You can write it for the advanced users, but people with no experience may never get linux running. You almost need 2 manuals. |
| Lenz: | That's what we did with 6.4. There now is a "quick-install" manual, and the old one, as a technical reference. |
| Mark: | Has SuSE had the opportunity to try out and/or work with the manufacturers of the new POP (PowerPC Open Platform) motherboards? |
| Lenz: | Yes, we are working on this. |
| Discussions? --- Interact with the writers and other readers... |
| suse xservers for linux on ppc | giovanni liotine |