OpenSUSE 42.1
As the SUSE Linux Enterprise-based distro leaps forwards, the intrepid Shashank Sharma discovers whether it’s a gecko or a chameleon.
The OpenSUSE project began consolidating and streamlining what it offers last year with the merger of the bleeding edge Tumbleweed release with the developmental Factory branch to create a rolling development codebase for the distribution (distro). Complementing that release is the project’s new line of stable releases dubbed Leap.
The source code of SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE) forms the basic building blocks for Leap and the distro will get bug fixes and security updates from the SLE releases. According to the release notes, the first version, 42.1, is based on the first service pack of SLE 12. Going forward, Leap 42.2 will be based on SP2 and 42.3 on SP3.
The core focus of the new distro is stability. To this end, Leap uses thoroughly tested components vetted by SUSE developers who cater to the Enterprise customers. In this way, OpenSUSE Leap is to SUSE what the RHEL-derived CentOS is to Red Hat.
The other big change, because of the shift to SLE packages, is the release cycle. In addition to the stable underpinnings, Leap now also adopts the release cycle of SLE. The plan is to have new major releases in sync with SLE releases and service packs. According to the release notes, the project expects Leap users to upgrade to the latest minor release within six months of its availability. This gets users 18 months of maintenance and security updates for every minor release. A major branch, like Leap 42, is expected to receive at least 36 months of updates which also eradicates the need for the OpenSUSE Evergreen branch.
Due to Leap’s focus on stability, the distro is made up of mature packages that are a version or two behind the latest release.
A giant leap
By default the distro uses Btrfs as the filesystem for the root partition and XFS for the home directory. However, it’s best to use Btrfs for the entire filesystem as you can use the Snapper tool for managing snapshots of the filesystem. Apart from the default hourly snapshots, Snapper also creates snapshots before and after you make any changes to the system using Yast or the package manager. With Leap 42.1 you can boot straight into a snapshot.
The Snapper tool has been integrated into the distro’s flagship Yast configuration tool to provide snapshots at filesystem level. Furthermore, Yast includes some new modules, such as Yast Docker for controlling the Docker daemon and managing containers.
In line with its commitment to stability, the release ships with a 4.1 series LTS Linux kernel. This is also the first stable OpenSUSE release to ship with KDE Plasma 5 (5.4.2 to be exact). The distro uses apps from both KDE Applications 15.08 and 15.04 sets. Furthermore, the distro includes a KDE Frameworks 5 based version of the Dolphin file manager. The team of OpenSUSE KDE developers are still hashing out a plan on how to ship updated KDE Applications release through the life cycle of Leap 42.1.
In another departure from tradition, the OpenSUSE Leap branch is only available as installable DVDs for 64-bit architectures. The developers felt that the installable Live CDs weren’t using the full potential of the Yast installer.
OpenSUSE Leap is an interesting addition to the mix of distros. It isn’t as dated as Debian Stable and promises to deliver more stability than regular desktop distros and is much cleaner than CentOS. This makes it useful for all kinds of desktops and perhaps even server deployments. Features Performance Ease of use Documentation