SuSE Linux

I doubt suse will be supported, because suse is not 100% free software. All the other distributions that linode uses are 100% free software. (At least their public download versions are.)

Sunny Dubey

SuSE Linux - like most other Linux distributions except Debian - includes a couple of commercial applications. Those applications are not available for download at the SuSE FTP servers. Chris could easily buy SuSE Linux (or just install it via FTP) and then remove all commercial packages (they are gathered in one package group, so they're not hard to find). I really can't see the difference between SuSE Linux and Red Hat Linux when it comes to commercial pagkages. Both distributions include them - but not on their download sites.

Err, the yast2 application is what prohibits the suse distribution from being considered free software.

read the license …

~~[http://www.suse.de/~sh/YaST2-Package-Manager/YaST2-license.txt" target="_blank">](http://www.suse.de/~sh/YaST2-Package-Ma … icense.txt">http://www.suse.de/~sh/YaST2-Package-Manager/YaST2-license.txt]( Especially section 3.

Debian/Slackware/Mandrake/Redhat/Gentoo do not include software which such a license.

Sunny Dubey

I checked the license and, while it is confusing, I didn't see it as a stopper.

Chris, can you give an authoritative answer on this one? I know someone who is looking for a hosting service, but who seems wedded to SuSE.

I think the issue is that one can't re-distribute SuSE (well, Yast2 to be precise) for any kind of charge, unless one has an explicit license from SuSE to do so.

Since Linode.com charges for access to a Linode, they potentially fall foul of that clause if they offer to install it for you. IANAL, so I don't know what would happen Linode.com did provide a SuSE distro and it went to court. But I expect that Linode has no interest being a guinea-pig for such a case.

However, as far as I can tell there should be no problem if you make your own SuSE UML image (on your home desktop machine say) and upload that to your Linode.

I am thinking of doing this, and would also like to confirm that Linode.com has no issues with this. Chris?

Cheers,

Rasjid.

Novell has announced that YAST2 is now open source. So this should be favoritable.

@dtrumbower:

Novell has announced that YAST2 is now open source. So this should be favoritable.

YaST2 has always been "open source"!! However it was not "Free Software" and so people couldn't redistribute it with the intention of making a profit from it. All Novel has done was GPL it, and therefore cause it to be "Free Software"

(There is a reason why RMS rants on and on about "open source" versus "free software", heh)

Bill Clinton