AR-Frequently Asked Questions

ما هو مشروع اوبن سوزي ؟

مشروع اوبن سوزي هو برنامج تداولي ممول من شركة نوفيل. يهدف لنشر استخدام نظام لينكس في كل مكان, و توفير مدخل سهل و مجاني لاكثر توزيعات لينكس قابلية للاستخدام في العالم, سوس لينكس. اوبن سوزي يقدم كل ما قد يحتاجه مطوري و مفضلي لينكس للبدء باستخدام النظام. و لأنه محمل على موقع اوبن سوس دوت اورغ, فهو يعطي مدخل سهل لبٍنايات و منتجات المشروع. و كذلك يوفر برامج مكثفة

Hosted at opensuse.org, the project features easy access to builds and releases. It also offers extensive community development programs for open access to the development process used to create SUSE Linux.

ماهي اهداف مشروع أوبن سوزي ؟

هناك 3 اهداف رئيسية :

• جعل أوبن سوزي اسهل توزيعة لنكس للجميع ونشرها على نحو واسع
• رفع تعاون المصادر المفتوحة لجعل أوبن سوزي سطح مكتب و بيئة اكثر استقراراً واستخداما للخبراء و المبتدئين
• تسهيل وتبسيط تطوير برامج ومصادر وجعل أوبن سوزي المرسى الاخير للباحث عن البرامج

The openSUSE project has three main goals:

• Make SUSE Linux the easiest Linux for anyone to obtain and the most widely used Linux distribution
• Leverage open source collaboration to make SUSE Linux the world's most usable Linux distribution and desktop environment for new and experienced Linux users
• Dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make SUSE Linux the platform of choice for Linux developers and software vendors

من يشارك في مشروع أوبن سوزي ؟

Linux developers and Linux users everywhere are welcome to participate in the project. We believe that the project will appeal particularly to:

• Millions of SUSE Linux users worldwide
• Experienced Linux engineers and application developers who want to create their own packages for SUSE Linux
• Corporate Linux experts, who regard SUSE Linux as the distribution that consistently delivers the latest Linux packages to the community in a stabilized integrated build

Current Linux users and others interested in getting started with Linux can visit openSUSE.org to download the recent official release of SUSE Linux. More technical users who wish to participate directly in the development of SUSE Linux will can download the current developer build of the distribution and submit bugs and patches through Bugzilla.

Do participants need to register?

Generally, no. No registration is required for software, source code downloads or participation in mailing lists. However, registration is required to submit bug reports, enhancement requests, or patches.

How is the openSUSE project organized and managed?

All successful open source communities start with a strong vision and the support and leadership of a small, dedicated group. Initially, openSUSE will be supported by Novell personnel, including significant engineering, Web, marketing and management resources dedicated to the effort. As the openSUSE community grows — and as it develops strong community-based leadership — Novell and the openSUSE community may consider other organizational models.

Today the openSUSE project is managed by several experienced Novell employees and Linux developers as well as several talented SUSE Linux testers and users. The open SUSE core team initially includes: Andreas Jaeger, Adrian Schröter, Martin Lasarsch, Christoph Thiel and Michael Löffler. For additional team members see the userlist.

What is the openSUSE project Release Schedule?

SUSE Linux 10.1 has been released. The project is now working on openSUSE 10.2. As always, openSUSE will provide regular snapshots of the latest development version. The engineering calendar and development guidelines are published at the project web site: www.opensuse.org.

What is the road map for the openSUSE project community programs?

Project plans and roadmaps are available at the openSUSE site: Roadmap. Initially, the road map for the openSUSE project consists of three phases.

Phase One: (August 2005)

• Establish the openSUSE community
• Deliver the essential community infrastructure: website, downloadable builds, and source. Open Bugzilla, and IRC channels.
• Accept patches for SUSE Linux 10.0 beta through bugzilla
• Open beta testing of SUSE Linux 10.0.

Phase Two: (targeted spring 2006)

• Simplify the patch submission process and establish a formal code checkout/checkin system
• Personalized developer accounts to allow easier participation in the openSUSE development process

Phase Three: (targeted summer 2006)

• Introduce a complete community infrastructure - with the publicly accessible build server, packagers can quickly create packages and incorporate them into test versions of the entire distribution.

This is just a working plan for the openSUSE project. As community members get involved, these priorities and timeframes may be adjusted to better reflect the needs of the openSUSE community.

Why is Novell starting the openSUSE project now?

The openSUSE project was created in direct response to our customers. With millions of users worldwide, SUSE Linux is known for its innovation and ease of use, and is one of the most popular Linux distributions available today. SUSE Linux users have asked for greater opportunities to collaborate on the testing, design and integration of new SUSE Linux features. Now, through the openSUSE project, Linux users everywhere have the opportunity to shape and improve the software they use on their personal laptops and home networks. They will also ultimately influence the commercial SUSE Linux products businesses use to run their applications.

What is the relationship of the openSUSE project to Novell?

The openSUSE project is sponsored by Novell, which contributes significant engineering, management and infrastructure resources. Novell, in consultation with the openSUSE community, sets the project engineering goals and retains ultimate responsibility for the project. The SUSE Linux operating system and associated open source applications are used by Novell as the basis for its fully supported and hardened enterprise Linux offerings (for example, Novell Linux Desktop).

Will Novell continue to sell consumer-oriented SUSE Linux in retail shops?

Yes. One of the objectives of the openSUSE project is to make SUSE Linux easily available to anyone. Although many SUSE Linux users may download the software from the project Web site or from mirrored sites around the world, other SUSE Linux users will prefer to have a physical copy of the product. Working with Novell, the openSUSE project will continue to create a fully packaged retail edition of the distribution that will be available in retail shops and online stores worldwide. The retail edition includes installable media, printed manuals and several additional commercial software programs as well as limited technical support. The availability of a retail edition with support options sets SUSE Linux apart from any other community-based Linux distribution.

What is the difference between SUSE Linux and the other Novell Linux offerings, including Enterprise Server 9, Novell Open Enterprise Server and Novell Linux Desktop?

SUSE Linux, created and maintained by the openSUSE project, is a stable, integrated Linux operating system that includes the latest open source packages for desktop productivity, multimedia, Web-hosting, networking infrastructure and application development. It contains everything you need to get started with Linux and is ideal for individuals who wish to use Linux on their personal workstations or to drive their home networks.

Novell refines and enhances SUSE Linux to create a hardened and supported suite of enterprise Linux products suitable for data center deployments, edge server deployments, business desktops, and business infrastructure deployment.

What makes the openSUSE project different from Fedora?

The Fedora Project, sponsored by Red Hat, is an open source effort with a strong community. There are also many other significant open source projects, such as Debian and Ubuntu, that serve active user and development communities. Generally speaking, these open source projects focus on engineering-centric issues that serve their technical community of Linux developers and users.

The openSUSE project explicitly looks beyond the technical community to the broader non-technical community of computer users interested in Linux. The openSUSE project creates — through an open and transparent development process — a stabilized, polished Linux distribution (SUSE Linux) that delivers everything a user needs to get started with Linux. (SUSE Linux is consistently cited as the best-engineered Linux and the most usable Linux.) To fulfill its mission of bringing Linux to everyone, the openSUSE project makes SUSE Linux widely available to potential Linux users through a variety of channels, including a complete retail edition with end-user documentation. Only the openSUSE project refines its Linux distribution to the point where non-technical users can have a successful Linux experience.

When compared specifically to Fedora, the openSUSE project embraces and develops several additional important open standards not included in Fedora, such as CIM (the Common Information Model), and YaST (a standard, open source configuration and management suite for Linux). Plus, the openSUSE project has a large desktop and usability effort, strengthened by many of the top open source GUI designers in the world.

What is the security update life cycle for SUSE Linux?

SUSE Linux is updated for 2 years. For longer code guarantees and update cycles, Novell provides business-class Linux solutions based on SUSE Linux.

Fedora basically forces you to update to the newest version to stay current, even for security updates. How does openSUSE handle this?

This is also the case for all development versions (alpha/beta) of SUSE Linux, but not for the released versions.

How can magazines get an edition of SUSE Linux?

Magazines often need a version of SUSE Linux that is adopted to their needs. There is some effort to be done for this. If you intend to publish a version of SUSE Linux in a magazine, please contact one of the following persons:

• Silke Schmitt for EMEA
• Yoji Furui for Japan
• Michael Loeffler for America and all remaining countries.