For example Red Hat Enterprise Linux or SUSE Enterprise Linux.

I’m considering switching to RHEL, to get a “professional” Linux, since it’s free if you register an account, but is it worth it?
Is the experience very different from Fedora?

  • nous@programming.devEnglish
    39·
    2 days ago

    Older software is the most noticeable thing. Enterprise does not mean it is better - just that it is supported for a long time and they do that by not changing much on them. They are more designed for servers rather than workstations and generally not a great experiences unless you are running hundreds or thousands of them in an enterprise situation.

    Professional just means payed for. What you are paying for is support in managing the systems, not a great user experience.

    For home desktops it is far nicer to be on newer software rather than things that came out 5 to 10 years ago.

    • superkret@feddit.orgOP
      59·
      2 days ago

      Can I assume you’re not actually running an enterprise distro?

      I mean, me neither, yet, but:

      • Both SUSE and Red Hat have had a minor release this year, with their software being less out of date than Debian
      • I feel like enterprise distros seem to be very different in the areas where differences between distros actually matter: Package management (which can be fine-tuned a lot more with application streams, security updates, package modules, etc.) and complete, up-to-date documentation (which is the thing most people miss in Linux).

      I was really looking for real world experience, not a re-hashing of unvalidated opinions that have been around for >10 years (when they might have actually been true).

      • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        13 hours ago

        their software being less out of date

        It almost sounds like we need to review how and why and when RHEL bundles software to be released within their distro, and the difference between an old snapshot and a relatively new fork.

      • nous@programming.devEnglish
        71·
        2 days ago

        Not anymore because all the reason I mentioned. Has the experience change in recent years? Not likely. It is the same software as in other distros - just years out of date. That has not changed as the goals of these projects have not changed. They might be on newer versions then 10 years ago but they are still way behind more frequently updated distros - or at least will be very shortly. That is fundamentally how these enterprise distros work. Their target audience is businesses needing support, not lots of end users.

        The big attraction towards these distros are the support that enterprise people will pay for - which you do not get with the free version. If you don’t mind older versions of things then it might be nice for you. If not then I would stay clear of them.

      • chloroken@lemmy.mlEnglish
        82·
        2 days ago

        It looks like you have your mind made up and are looking for affirmation, not discussion. Next time, say that instead of being an ass to people trying to help you.

        • superkret@feddit.orgOP
          46·
          2 days ago

          I think I was pretty clear with what I was asking in this thread:

          “Is anyone here using an enterprise Linux distro?”

          • JackGreenEarth@lemm.eeEnglish
            82·
            2 days ago

            You also asked

            I’m considering switching to RHEL, to get a “professional” Linux, since it’s free if you register an account, but is it worth it?
            Is the experience very different from Fedora?

          • chloroken@lemmy.mlEnglish
            4·
            2 days ago

            Nobody cares when someone tries to preemptively qualify incoming advice. It’s an open forum. Everyone will just ignore your criteria because you admittedly don’t know much about this. If you gave us a reason that didn’t vibe as “I think I know more than I do” I bet people would consider not chiming in.

            What a normal person does is simple: just ignore the advice that they don’t value.