openSUSE community meets in The Hague
New Skies
The annual openSUSE conference in The Hague, The Netherlands, was the site for some important announcements about the future of the openSUSE project.
The historic city known as The Hague is home to the International Court of Justice, the Dutch government, half a millions inhabitants, and one of the world's oldest universities. For the first week of May, The Hague also played host to the openSUSE 2015 conference [1], along with an annual summit for the Kolab groupware project [2]. Both communities showed up for some exciting discussions and plenty of big announcements.
The openSUSE conference included six tracks over four days (from May the 1st to 4th). More than 200 developers exchanged detailed technical information, as well as insights on strategic and organizational matters affecting the green chameleon's community.
The biggest news was the announcement of a new openSUSE [3] variant based on source code from SUSE's flagship distro SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE) [4].
The openSUSE project currently produces a rolling release edition called Tumbleweed and a numbered release that is essentially a Tumbleweed snapshot. The new SLE-based openSUSE edition is intended for conservative power users who want the stable core of an enterprise-grade Linux without the cost and complexity of a subscription-style license. Launching a new SLE-core openSUSE edition will also give the Tumbleweed edition more freedom to chart its own course and pursue its recent focus on infrastructure and experimental technology. OpenSUSE users will have a choice between the numbered release based on SLE (starting with version 13.3) or a more free-wheeling Tumbleweed edition, which will retain the rolling release format.
This change means SUSE Enterprise core code will become part of the openSUSE project's Open Build Service [5] and will enjoy the benefits of automatic quality testing through openSUSE's innovative OpenQA testing system [6].
SUSE employee Stephan Kulow first announced the possibility of this change at the FOSDEM conference back in March, so SUSE insiders knew it was in the works, but the latest announcement confirms the change and offers some details that were missing from past descriptions.
Most of the listeners seemed amused that the new SLE-based openSUSE still didn't have a name, although by the time you read this, the developers might have gotten around to naming it.
The openSUSE board showed strong support for the plan, encouraging developers to help. Richard Brown, chairman of the openSUSE board, explained that lots of the 130,000 users of SUSE 13.2 still want stable releases in the future, even though 13.2 is basically "only a snapshot of Tumbleweed." Nevertheless, Tumbleweed runs on about 14,000 machines (as counted by regular updates from the repositories) and "in a slow week (…) updates 146 packages, [brings] a new Kernel, (…) and provides three new snapshots" [7] Most users of openSUSE 13.2 and before, however, want a more stable, slower distribution that focuses on stability, not on new software. For example shortly before publication, Tumbleweed switched to the new Plasma 5 desktop, replacing the stable KDE 4 still in openSUSE. The new scenario offers a version of openSUSE with a core of the SLE software plus a choice of several different desktops. Look online for a video of Richard's keynote [7].
Other notable news includes SUSE's configuration management toolkit named Machinery – which, according to its website [8], supports "configuration discovery, system validation, and service migration." Machinery, which is based on the idea of a universal system description, already works on openSUSE 13.1, 13.2, and Tumbleweed.
Conference visitors got a sneak peek of openSUSE's new tablet and touch-enabled website. With openSUSE's tenth birthday approaching, the organizers announced that next year's openSUSE conference will take place in Nuremberg (openSUSE's coming home).
Also announced was a new project named Backports, a "central repository to collect all package builds for SLE" [9]. The Backports project aims to use the Build service as a convenient way to install pre-built open software on top of SLE [10].
Kolab
The co-located summit for the open source groupware solution Kolab also had some big announcements. The biggest news was that Roundcube, the project's favorite integrated web mailer, will get lots of attention. Kolab Systems, the company behind the Kolab groupware solution, sparked a crowdfunding campaign to improve the quality and feature set of Roundcube. "This is one of the major tasks our company will be looking at in the next years," said Kolab Systems CEO Georg Greve. (Since the event, prospects have been looking good for Roundcube: The crowdfunding campaign raised $13,000 on the first day.)
Several other Kolab topics centered on integration, including Microsoft's Mail and Groupware API (MAPI) through OpenChange [11], used for ages in Exchange servers, real-time messaging, Office (LibreOffice), and especially WebODF solutions. An entire track dealt with the requirements of the healthcare sector, which is a natural topic for Kolab, because its focus has always been on security and data protection.
Infos
- openSUSE Conference: https://events.opensuse.org/conference/osc15
- Kolab: https://www.kolab.org
- openSUSE: https://www.opensuse.org
- SLES: https://www.suse.com/products/server/
- Open Build Service: http://www.openbuildservice.org
- "openQA" by Markus Feilner, Linux Magazine, issue 175, June 2015, pg. 38, http://www.linuxpromagazine.com/Issues/2015/175/openQA
- Richard Brown's Keynote (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH99TSrfvq0
- Ludwig Nussel on Backports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOMoxmjS1Hk
- The openSUSE Backports project for SLE12: https://events.opensuse.org/conference/osc15/proposal/642
- Machinery: http://machinery-project.org
- OpenChange: http://www.openchange.org
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Gnome 47.1 Released with a Few Fixes
The latest release of the Gnome desktop is all about fixing a few nagging issues and not about bringing new features into the mix.
-
System76 Unveils an Ampere-Powered Thelio Desktop
If you're looking for a new desktop system for developing autonomous driving and software-defined vehicle solutions. System76 has you covered.
-
VirtualBox 7.1.4 Includes Initial Support for Linux kernel 6.12
The latest version of VirtualBox has arrived and it not only adds initial support for kernel 6.12 but another feature that will make using the virtual machine tool much easier.
-
New Slimbook EVO with Raw AMD Ryzen Power
If you're looking for serious power in a 14" ultrabook that is powered by Linux, Slimbook has just the thing for you.
-
The Gnome Foundation Struggling to Stay Afloat
The foundation behind the Gnome desktop environment is having to go through some serious belt-tightening due to continued financial problems.
-
Thousands of Linux Servers Infected with Stealth Malware Since 2021
Perfctl is capable of remaining undetected, which makes it dangerous and hard to mitigate.
-
Halcyon Creates Anti-Ransomware Protection for Linux
As more Linux systems are targeted by ransomware, Halcyon is stepping up its protection.
-
Valve and Arch Linux Announce Collaboration
Valve and Arch have come together for two projects that will have a serious impact on the Linux distribution.
-
Hacker Successfully Runs Linux on a CPU from the Early ‘70s
From the office of "Look what I can do," Dmitry Grinberg was able to get Linux running on a processor that was created in 1971.
-
OSI and LPI Form Strategic Alliance
With a goal of strengthening Linux and open source communities, this new alliance aims to nurture the growth of more highly skilled professionals.