According to a Novell Inc. confidential memo dated June 14, Novell will be slightly delaying its next release of both the server and desktop versions of SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 "to address final issues with our new package management, registration, and update system and also fix the remaining blocker defects."
SUSE has a new update and package management system, which has not worked well in its initial release in the free, community OpenSUSE 10.1 release.
This new system is based on Libzypp. This is a backend program that uses RPM (RPM Package manager) packages for installing, removing, and querying program packages. With it, Novell is attempting to marry the best features of SUSE's old yast2 package manager and Ximian's libredcarpet.
Unfortunately, even after a recent set of fixes was released, SUSE's update and new program installation system is still giving many users trouble.
Novell is aware of the continuing problems and is working on correcting them. Unfortunately, according to Michael Loeffler, Novell's SUSE Linux product manager, SUSE doesn't "have a date yet. We [will] try to provide this patch soon. But due to the fact that R&D is finalizing SUSE Linux Enterprise 10, I doubt that the patch [for OpenSUSE] will be available earlier than [the] end of June."
With these delays, the final SUSE Linux release candidate is now due out on June 22. In this release, all the code will be frozen, while Novell's internal and external beta testers and partners will continue final regression and validation tests.
At the same time, the official ISV/IHV (independent software and hardware vendor) re-certification/validation will continue and "only 'stop ship' bugs, which would block certification, acceptance or security get fixed from now on. Everything else will just be documented in the release notes."
On July 6, the Goldmaster candidate release will come out and the final tests will be made. The Goldmaster ISO will also be released to Novell's partners.
Then, July 13 will be the acceptance deadline of the Goldmaster ISO and release notes.
If all goes according to plan, the first copies will be shipped to customers electronically on July 17.
While the memo doesn't go into any further details, Novell's latest flagship operating system will shortly be made available to all its customers via its usual channel partners; and, for existing customers, via the SUSE maintenance portal.
