Jesse is right in saying the ISO's are not available for download like say RedHat's for example. There are Live Evaluation ISO's for download but SuSE claims they offer ALMOST everything software wise that their boxed sets do. Reason behind the lack is license agreements with software writers. I would think they get a percentage of SuSE's sale of a boxed set too. It's only fair. And how far or much can FREE actually go when it comes to putting food on the table or paying the mortgage?
But, so people aren't going to download SuSE Linux for the complexity of the task, this is the short version of "How To" download and install SuSE Linux. First, you need to download and copy to either CD or floppy, a bootable image that will boot your computer with Linux. Both are supplied by links at the SuSE site. Then, once booted, you'll be greeted with an installation method in which SuSE expects you to follow the simple directions at ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/current/README.FTP which will tell you exactly how to set up to install directly from their FTP server at ftp.suse.com. My opinion is that SuSE does not require the installation disks to be reinserted time and time again like the M$ CD that requires you to insert the disk time and time again as often as you sneeze in your pepper factory. Not so with SuSE. Downloading is downloading and ISO's on CD can be both useful and totally unnecessary depending on how much you install to begin with, and if there is indeed an Internet or Network connection to ftp.suse.com to begin with. And depending on if the system being installed is to be a very specific and single use system or if it's to be a system installed with everything. If the system is installed with everything, you can easily install to other systems in your own private network and you won't be asked to insert the installation CD's again regardless of which way you install SuSE. So, without trying to sell SuSE, this is their method and that is the short version of why no ISO's. We all hopefully know the value of the MD5 checksums when installing anything Linux. Cheers again. Garth Meisel
