I am reviewing a Linux release…….and It’s not a Debian implementation? Strange for me!
Actually it would seem that curiosity has won over the better of me. And the world of Linux is a wonderful to satisfy curiosity. In the past I have been less than impressed with OpenSUSE. There have always been issues with the broadcom wireless headaches, multimedia codecs, and other “non-open source” items. Additionally I do not care for either KDE or GNOME 3.
But there’s something different about this release. OpenSUSE “Leap” is a new variety that is based on the source code of Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop/Server. It is the equivalent of one of Ubuntu’s “Long Term Service” releases. Supported for three years and updated on the Enterprise development cycle, this is clearly an attempt to be like the “CentOS” releases for Red Hat. And in my view, this is a good thing.
Whether it’s good or bad, I have to admit the first thing I look at is swag. This release especially has plenty of it. The standard Gnome Desktop has very interesting wallpaper. The SUSE mascot as a light bulb filament? That is genius.
The installer was very fluid and intuitive with the modern chic serif fonts that Microsoft and Apple have both made popular the past few years. No complaints. I love Ubuntu but we have to face the truth – the color is horrible and inflexible and quite honestly the installer is ugly. It is a wonderful operating system worthy of its popularity. Unity is easy to use. But the purple/brown/orange thing? Ugly.
OpenSUSE and its commercial sibling SUSE Linux Enterprise is beautiful. The greens are very pleasant.
How is the support for multimedia and proprietary drivers? About the same as Debian. There is a popular repository you can add for proprietary drivers and mmultimedia codecs.
Anybody wanting to try this needs to visit this site:
It’s also one of the first Linux distributions to use the “Long Term” updated Linux kernel version 4.1.12-1-default. (Ubuntu 16.04 LTS will probably use something close to this in the spring).
The newer GNOME 3.16 that this version includes has actually improved quite a lot since GNOME first took its radical departure from version 2. I really like Unity in Ubuntu, and the newer GNOME versions remind me of Unity.
Overall this is the first OpenSUSE version I really have been impressed with and I plan to use it for a while. Not that I am abandoning Ubuntu or Debian by any means – but variety is half the fun!
Stay geeky ladies and gentlemen.
Great post Chris. I love your reviews.