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Title: Updating to a new S.u.S.E. distribution - Is it worth it ?

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Updating to a new S.u.S.E. distribution - Is it worth it ?

In order to answer this question it is necessary to know, for what purpose you need Linux.

The following principle is also valid for Linux : "Never change a running system". This means : If the system works stable as a stand-alone machine which is only connected to external networks via a modem or ISDN and if you don't rely on new features of new releases, than an update is not useful.

Single programs can (at least in versions of S.u.S.E. Linux from 5.0 on) be updated without problems. Thus updating the whole system because of newly released programs makes no sense.

Since version 5.0 of S.u.S.E. Linux packages are delivered in the RPM format instead of .tgz. The new RPM format allows the easy installation, update and removal of software packages. It is state of the art in the Linux community. S.u.S.E provides new versions of single programs on its FTP server ftp://ftp.suse.com/suse_update/. These were adapted to the needs of special versions of the distribution. If you own an older System than version 5.0, than an update to the current version might be useful just because of the easy way of upgrading and installing with the RPM format.

If you are a programmer, then you probably know about the fast development of Linux. In this case a regular update might be useful in order to follow the innovations and improvements of the system. This is especially cheap when puchasing our subscription version or by buying Linux Snapshot. You can order updates and other products e.g. from the following Web page : http://www.suse.de/bestellungE/bestell_D_normal.html.

If you run a server than you should take into account that especially on the field of system security a lot of new developments take place (catchword teardrop, ...). Errors concerning the security of the system are usually solved in the next kernel release. Also work-araounds for bugs in the hardware (processor, ...) are normally available in the next version. S.u.S.E. always tries to use the newest (stable) versions of the kernel in the distribution. This way you can benefit from such changes concerning the security by purchasing an update of the distribution. Since the kernels, that are delivered with the S.u.S.E. distribution, contain special adaptations, you are always sure to run a kernel that is fine-tuned for your system.

If you are an "ordinary user" who tries to learn Linux or uses the applications that are delivered with the system, then we recommend an update, if you use a S.u.S.E. Linux distribution older than version 5.0 (june 97).

The following Web page contains a summary of important changes and improvements of the current version : http://www.suse.de/e/lx/.

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See also:

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Keywords: UPDATE, SECURITY, VERSION

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Feedback welcome: Send Mail to feedback@suse.de (Please give the following subject: SDB-update)

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SDB-update, Copyright SuSE GmbH, Nuremberg, Germany - Version: 07. Apr 1998
Impressum - Last generated: 24. Feb 1999 15:28:34 by maddin with sdb_gen 1.00.0