free suse and novell software??

[fatTrav]

Saw this on distrowatch.com today:
http://www.novell.com/community/linux/order.php?sourceid=uscin

just curious if anyone has sent out for it (if so, is the software shipped to you is free?)...

travis

[XavierP]

Hey, thanks for the link - I have just ordered mine. When filling out the form, you only need your name, address and phone number - the rest is all optional.

[rbrimhall]

Me too... (thanks for the link)

[bsh152s]

Looks like it is free. Check this (http://nlug.org/mail/nlugsc/nlugsc__2004_05/0002.html) out.

I'm signing up also.

[fatTrav]

i signed up for it too. free software is too attractive not to pass up. hell, i was thinking of trying out SuSe anyways, now i just wait...

[elderdays]

Is it some time limited crap? I mean, I still ordered it regardless, but is it?

[fatTrav]

no idea. i came across this yesterday on distrowatch. the link doesn't say a whole lot about the promotion.

i'm sure it'll take some "time" to be shipped though.

[ph34r]

Just ordered mine. Lets see if they take a year like my Guiness bar towel did...

[Wolface]

remember to put "no" on:
Would you like to continue to receive Linux information and resources from Novell?

at the end... of course unless u like spam n stuff@

[Darkbolt]

Has anyone heard any more on this? I signed up, and it said they'd give me an email when it shipped first class...No word via email, and nothing via snail mail...Anyone else?

[rbrimhall]

I haven't but I wasn't counting on it for awhile anyway... maybe when suse 9.1 support ends?;)

[Parcival]

Originally posted by Darkbolt
Has anyone heard any more on this? I signed up, and it said they'd give me an email when it shipped first class...No word via email, and nothing via snail mail...Anyone else?

Have a look at their website again. They took the order form offline and replaced it with this:

Thank you for your interest in the Novell Linux Resource Kit. We have experienced a high demand for this product, and are working to implement a new steamlined process to accommodate all orders. Please check back on Friday, 18 Jun 2004 at 5PM EST to access the order form. If you would like to be notified as soon as the order form comes online again, please send us an e-mail and we will contact you as soon as the form is available.

Well, now it's 06-21-04 and the orderform is still not online, looks like they really have a hard time meeting the high demand. :D

[Tech4U]

Just ordered the software. Order form appears to be up and functional. Now, we wait........

[happybunny]

i have email direct from novell saying that this is legit....mostly they promoted it to LUGS but obviously word has gotten around.

I beleive these are full not technical restriction copies. At a conference the Novell guy said as he handed us disks "linux is free, we want you to pay for support".

We shall see when they start to arrive if that is all true.

[rbrimhall]

"I just wanted to let you know that the free Tech resource kit you have
ordered has been shipped
and you should be receiving it soon.

XXX XXXXX
Novell Customer Communities"

Just got this today.

[Darkbolt]

I had to re-sign up on the form, and I got an email saying it'd ship in 7-10 business days :)

[Wolface]

me too!!


I just wanted to let you know that the free Tech resource kit you have
ordered has been shipped
and you should be receiving it soon.


Novell Customer Communities

[elderdays]

I hope I get mine. I reordered it too. It would suck if they jipped us out of our FREE software :)

[pezplaya]

whats the catch?

[rbrimhall]

well, you get suse 9.1 and ximian desktop 2 which is not compatible with 9.1... that's one catch... ;)

[cabu1966]

Originally posted by lupin_the_3rd
well, you get suse 9.1 and ximian desktop 2 which is not compatible with 9.1... that's one catch... ;)

Yes, but from the email I got from Novell you also get:

- SUSE Linux Professional 8.2 (Installation ISO images for use with Ximiam Desktop)

[rbrimhall]

Well, I never said there wasn't a workaround;)

Seriously, I guess the only catch is that Novell can contact those that signed via email for promotional purposes. I kind of looked at it as a means of free advertisement for Novell... If any of us like their products enough we will probably purchase full versions once they release something new...

[Early Bird]

It looks like Novell have had some kind of "road to Damascus" conversion to the FOSS movement.

I'm looking forward to getting SuSE 9.1 for free - it saves me buying the upgrade, and the Groupwise client will come in handy for e-mail (my University uses NetWare and Groupwise.

[Loki3]

I'm really looking foward to getting SuSE. I just made sure to check the no button when asked if I wanted to recieve information about future novell offers.

[The Linux Kid]

I just got an email to say that my order had been shipped!! From the US and I live in Australia.... Is it here yet :D

The Linux Kid

[lerninlinux]

I received mine today. It comes on 3 DVDs. I hope the old PC I will be trying it on can read them. One has a bunch of networking stuff, one has Suse Pro 8.2 w/ Ximian, one just has Suse Pro 9.1.

We'll see...

[Parcival]

Reading through this thread it sounds to me like Christmas has been moved to summer. :D

[fatTrav]

quite a nice package they send you. three dvds, always cool not to have to switch between four discs, and the software is great.

with the change redhat made by dropping their free version and fedora basically being an unstable turd, novell's suse might be the next big thing for linux. i can't think of any other linux distro that has a big, viable company behind them (redhat excluded).

this weekend can't get here soon enough so I can waste a day with novell suse's enterprise server 8!

[aNoob]

I have received today the software.
Boy how happy I was!
OK,cancelled the dinner to install SUSE! Is for that I'm pretty hungry right now.Gooood. So I loaded the bootable DVD,twice because at 4% install DVD drive eneterd in a loop.I guess I have to clean it up.It does the same in Win,Slack.No big deal. So,install! Used with RH,Slack and Vecor I AM AMAZED how Suse install self! Mind you , is the first time I put Suse in my drive.Everything went good.Installed stuffs,pretty much as RH or Mandrake does,except that here looks simpler but this is because I didn't touched for a long time such a friendly distro.And it boots!!! Grub is beautiful,better looking than LILO,there's no doubt.To cut the cr@p , here is my oppinion.

Beautiful:
-Yast rocks!Kiks a$$,beter than up2date from the old RH.I have no words.
-Suse menu.This is customized,obviously look better than the one you install for Slack.But this is not a big problem in Slack.
-hardware detection.In a second everyfreckenthing detected.I do have pretty old hardware though.This might be a cause.My nvidia Ti4600 is detected on the spot and I'm adviced to download the driver to enable 3d.Which I am doing now when I write this.
-L&F,looks OK,but do not forget is just KDE ,I guess customized till bones.I wouldn't have this patience,seriously.
-probably more but I am logged just for an hour so...
-multimedia apps.But this I think is related to KDE mostly and since I use Gnome ...

Sux:
-system speed.In Slack with default KDE it flies.Even Dropline is twice faster , even more. As far as I remember from RH it will be a good idea to re-customize KDE.I don't like teh speed at all.WinXP is rocket next to default Suse.And this is not good.Still to investigate.My sys is P42.4 1GB RAM,Ti4600 128VRAM,60GB HDD, I have 512 swap which I do hope Suse will not use.
-default web browser is konqueror.If there's one reason I quit KDE is konqueror.I don't like it. Period.

That's about it.I still test Suse now,I have to say that I'm impressed.Is way better for me than MDK or RH/FC.Still I preffer Slackware.It gives me another feeling.I don't know.Besides,I can customize a Slack box until I burn my flash BIOS. But I guess I'm not familiar with Suse.But this is KDE ... and so on.
I promise I will give it a test for at least a week..Meanwhlie I promise not to touch my laptop (Slack/xfce) not to be disturbed.

To conclude,I realy thank Novell for this initiative.Won't harm that much for other distros to do the same.I believe in short time Novell will be somehow a leader.But this we have to wait and see.

Next week I will give a try to server edition.

Have a good one everyone!

[thread_killer]

I haven't received my free kit yet, but I'll tell you what I did do today.

I got a hold of Novell Nterprise Linux Services Evaluation Kit (partner software) and got that all loaded up today.

I stuck it on an old Compaq 800 server (P III, 500 mhz, 256 mb RAM, two 9gig SCSI hard drives). Even though it doesn't technically meet minimum system requirements it still took less than an hour to load, start-to-finish. It works freaking great too. The only thing that glitched on me even a little bit was the Ximian red carpet install. Compare this to loading NetWare 6 on brand new dual and quad xeon ML-370 servers taking a couple of hours at least. Not only that, but this was much, much simpler than a standard NW install (which isn't that hard anyway). The only thing someone who has never used linux before would have to learn to install this stuff is how to mount /dev/fd0. I am definately impressed.

I don't know how many people work with Novell daily like I do, but all the features of NW 6 and 6.5 are there. I-manage, I-print, I-folder. It's very, very nice. Anyone who has only ever worked on NetWare up to version 5.1 will have some trouble because the old console isn't there at the server, but if you've ever used NW 6.x and gotten comfortable with the web tools it's exactly the same experience.

I'm already a SuSE user and was thrilled when the announcement came at the beginning of the year that Novell had acquired them. They are really doing a bang-up job of integrating the technologies. I sure hope this means at some point in the near future Novell will be able to produce a truly (l)user ready desktop based on the linux kernel.

Even though I'm a WAN engineer and have let all my old LAN skills lapse the last several years, I'm seriously considering taking the Novell Linux cert just because I think there will really be a market for this stuff.

Please let this be the first step in eroding some of the MSFT desktop market share! :D

[ph34r]

Mine arrived Monday according to the stamp the campus mail people put on it... just hit my desk now though.

[Early Bird]

Mine came on Wednesday - I was getting worried that it wouldn't arrive before I left for a clinical placement in India for 7 weeks! I was going to install SuSE 9.1 last night, but I didn't have time to backup everything, install and sleep before my exams :( It will have to wait until I get back from India I suppose...

Installed XD2 on my existing SuSE 8.2 system, but I ticked the box to not use GDM, and now I can't remember which file I need to edit to put it on the KDM menu! I know I did the same for XFCE4 but my memory is too full of medicine crap to do much Linux right now.

[lerninlinux]

To follow up on what fatTrav said about having a distro with a large company behind it...

I work for a publishing company and Novell has been putting a big push on training for Suse, both with us and other partners. They are offering crazy deals for material and classes. They aim to become what Redhat was only more successful. Not sure if they can make it happen but hopefully. It is my opinion that they think they can do the free/cheap software and make money on training and support.

[Bowtie]

Okay since the offer is up and some of you apparently have the software..............WHAT IS IT??:D

[lerninlinux]

Bowtie, take a look at Yahoo's cached copy of the offer before Novell stopped doing it.

Here (http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=novell+Linux+Technical+Resource+Kit&u=www.novell.com/community/linux/order.php&w=novell+linux+technical+resource+kit&d=5446381B96&c=482&yc=3650&icp=1)

[Bowtie]

Oh wow. Thanks for the link. That really blows that the offer is over though.:(