On average, some 9.5 million computers in the world can have one of hundreds of Linux-based operating systems. OpenSUSE is one of them and is famous for focusing on the corporate environment with solutions to facilitate tasks and connectivity between people.
This distribution has the peculiarity that cannot be installed on 32-bit devicesHowever, it is not an impediment for people to try some of its characteristics.
Check what are the main functions, their best qualities and the minimum requirements that a team requires in order to OpenSUSE start smoothly.
What is OpenSUSE and what is this Linux operating system distribution for?
In June 2022 version 15.3 of this operating system was released open source. It has an update cycle of 18 months, so its improvements can be seen more frequently compared to other operating systems. Follow the Linux philosophy and build a global community that encourages the use of freely licensed operating systems, transparent and controlled by the community itself.
Brands often use this system to lighten the administrative burden, create new interconnected workstations, create containers and create a more fluid work environment. Make the Xface desktop available to users, from where most of the actions are managed, as if it were the popular Windows desktop. As a curious fact, the operating system comes with a health environment called MyGNUHealth, that seeks to monitor the physical condition of its users.
What are the main functionalities and features of OpenSUSE that make it a great distribution?
Believe it or not, This operating system is aimed at both end users, large developers and servers. As expressed in their slogan, it is an “operating system designed for everyone.”
These are some of its best features:
- Offers a “beta” version: Of course, it is not without its bugs, but the openSUSE Tumpleweed version is designed for technology enthusiasts who want to have access to the best and newest qualities of this system “Open source”, In less time.
- It offers several desks: in reality they are work environments or ecosystems that allow fulfilling the different roles of possible users. These desktops are KDE Plasma, GNOME, Xfce, LXDE, Enlightenment 19, and Mate.
- Server environment: This does not have a graphical environment, it is only accessible through a command console and it may not be such a pleasant environment for beginners. For those who work with servers and container technology, it is something they cannot stop trying.
- Permission customization: users can have strict control over the applications that work on this operating system. Using the “AppArmor” solution, it is possible to adjust the permissions to the app according to their functions.
- 3D desktop: OpenSUSE has a 3D desktop that is interesting for its graphics and way of accessing settings. It is an unusual feature in open source systems like this.
Versions of OpenSUSE What are they and what news and improvements did they contribute to the evolution of this operating system?
Total, there are six series of OpepSUSE releases known in the world of computing.
Each of them contributed an important advance in the development of systems like this:
- Leap 15.x series: It is designed to meet the needs of a corporate environment and create a system of interconnected workstations with direct access to common servers and data. Businesses can extend the license to SUSE Linux Enterprise 15.
- Leap 42.x Series: it is the beginning of the way to create a more complete business environment. It served as a laboratory to experiment and test working conditions that served the Leap 15 Series.
- 13.x series: it was the first version that added the ability to receive security patches from the free license developer community. It integrated the work of LibreOffice and provided good support for Firefox at the time.
- 12.x series: in this edition, Systemd was used for the first time, instead of System V init. Although it started out with major instability issues, the developers chose to postpone the release to August 2012 in order to fix the bugs that were persistent.
- 10.x series and 11.x series: the second of these versions was known in 2008 and is currently discontinued. Support is no longer offered for any of these editions.
System requirements What features must my computer have to be able to install OpenSUSE?
Even in its latest version, it does not require many physical resources to be able to install and start this operating system. Although the higher memory and processing capacity, there will be better performance.
These are the minimum requirements that OpenSUSE requires:
- It is recommended at least 2Gb of RAM, but the manufacturer assures that it can be installed with 512Mb.
- It requires 5Gb hard disk.
- Work with a 800px x 600px screen resolution, but the best visualization is achieved with 1024px x 468px.
- The file (ISO) weighs about 4.7Gb in the Leal 15 Series version.
- Works only with 64Bits systems.
OpenSUSE vs Manjaro vs Linux Mint Which is the best Linux distribution today?
Among these three Linux distributions, without a doubt, Manjaro takes the title of best free license operating system, for having better support and higher performance.
In this case alone, OpenSUSE has a long way to go:
Package management
Both OpenSUSE and Manjaro and Linux Mint have excellent package managers who are responsible for downloading, installing and removing any software that the user requires. At this point, there are no major differences between the three open source solutions.
Security
Definitely, OpenSUSE security updates and enhancements are more frequent, on average 18 months in the stable edition, and three months in the trial editions. This is an advantage over the other two competitors because you can see the work that its developers do to maintain a safe and reliable OS at the same time.
Privacy
All three operating systems are open source, that means they face similar threats and vulnerabilities, compared to systems like Windows and macOS, which is ultimately more secure. In general, it makes less effort to safeguard user information.
Utility
Manjaro consumes less RAM memory and has a greater number of applications that exceed 30 thousand. This is a plus point about the usefulness they may have OpenSUSE and Linux Mint, which are less well known and have fewer people working on software packages.
Unique tools
OpenSUSE differs from its competition because has a tool to help people stay healthy and because it offers unique 3D environments and multiple desktops with which you can better organize the workflow. In this, it is better than Manjaro and Linux Mint.