openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is a rolling release that is as secure as any Linux distribution, and it offers plenty of tools for power users (such as YaST). For years, it has used AppArmor as its underlying security layer, but that is about to change.
As a bleeding-edge distribution, the Tumbleweed developers don't mind making dramatic changes, especially with the internals. One such dramatic change, which was announced on the openSUSE Factory mailing list, will be the move from AppArmor to SELinux for mandatory access control.
SELinux will be set to enforcing mode on openSUSE Tumbleweed. However, if you would like to stick with AppArmor, you can do so manually in the OS installer.
It is also important to note that existing installations will not be switched to SELinux. Leap users don't have to fear, as this move will not affect their installations.
According to Cathy Hu (SELinux security engineer for SUSE), "We have tested the change manually and automatically via openQA. However, if you encounter any issues that could be related to SELinux, please feel encouraged to open a bug as it is really helpful to us."
Many believe SELinux to be the superior security option, while some believe it can be a bit too cumbersome.
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
-
TUXEDO has unveiled a new InfinityBook Pro with an AMD Ryzen AI 300
This new notebook offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Is This the Year of Linux?
Another major organization has decided to kick Windows and Office to the curb, in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.