openSUSE is an incredibly versatile OS, suitable for use on Mainframes, Servers, Virtual Appliances, Workstations, Desktops, Laptops, and Netbooks; no wonder it has a chameleon for a mascot.
In the past few years, most media coverage of Linux has become synonymous with Linux on the desktop, largely because of the huge market share of Linux in the server space and the popularity of Ubuntu Linux, which first and foremost, is desktop-oriented. We, as Linux distribution advocates, have contributed to this, by strongly focusing our marketing efforts on desktop advancements: the newest KDE, previews of GNOME 3, and before that, Compiz. Unfortunately, for new users, this creates a false perception that all Linux distributions are desktop Linux distributions. What we lose as a community in this argument which Linux distribution offers the best desktop experience is one of openSUSE's greatest strengths: its server experience, and the overall flexibility the distribution provides by being equally suited to both server and desktop tasks.
openSUSE grew out of S.u.S.E. Linux which, translated from the original German, is System and Software Development . S.u.S.E. Linux was designed for building systems: it was equal parts a system integrator's OS, and a developer's OS. The current openSUSE distribution carries those roots, but has lost the emphasis on them, in favor of the overall desktop experience. I'll be publishing a few of articles on news.opensuse.org that explain how easy it is to get started with openSUSE as a server and as a development environment, to try to rebuild some of that emphasis.
Update: "openSUSE servers with one click" is up on news.opensuse.org.
In the past few years, most media coverage of Linux has become synonymous with Linux on the desktop, largely because of the huge market share of Linux in the server space and the popularity of Ubuntu Linux, which first and foremost, is desktop-oriented. We, as Linux distribution advocates, have contributed to this, by strongly focusing our marketing efforts on desktop advancements: the newest KDE, previews of GNOME 3, and before that, Compiz. Unfortunately, for new users, this creates a false perception that all Linux distributions are desktop Linux distributions. What we lose as a community in this argument which Linux distribution offers the best desktop experience is one of openSUSE's greatest strengths: its server experience, and the overall flexibility the distribution provides by being equally suited to both server and desktop tasks.
openSUSE grew out of S.u.S.E. Linux which, translated from the original German, is System and Software Development . S.u.S.E. Linux was designed for building systems: it was equal parts a system integrator's OS, and a developer's OS. The current openSUSE distribution carries those roots, but has lost the emphasis on them, in favor of the overall desktop experience. I'll be publishing a few of articles on news.opensuse.org that explain how easy it is to get started with openSUSE as a server and as a development environment, to try to rebuild some of that emphasis.
Update: "openSUSE servers with one click" is up on news.opensuse.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment