Portal:Support
- To request support included in a boxed version you have to contact the vendor.
- To request support for one of the openSUSE services see Services help.
Non interactive
The openSUSE documentation is a complete list of documentation covering regular daily usage of openSUSE and many tips and tricks, hidden gems, that help to use it efficiently.
The Support database is offering articles that experienced users wrote as a solution for different problems. From installation and configuration issues, to workarounds for bugs until they are solved with regular updates.
Mailing list archives are another popular source of information and contains a lot of community knowledge for current and past releases.
Interactive
Communication channels lists support channels that we use in the case of problems that we can't solve on our own. It contains short introduction and links to interactive support, where you can communicate with other openSUSE users. Be aware that people there use their own time to help.
- Forums are these days a very popular way to communicate on the web. This listing contains web forums operated by openSUSE, but also those run by third parties.
- Mailing lists are a common way to communicate by email and to share ideas and solve problems for many topics of interest.
- IRC channels are a live help service based on the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) protocol, a real time service where users can help each other without delay.
Bug tracking
Bugzilla is a popular software used to track software problems (bugs) from report to resolution. It is open and everyone can access it. You can search to see if your problem was already reported, possibly solved, and access workarounds or fixes for testing.
If you were told in the interactive support options above that you should report a bug, please do so with sufficient detail. All that you need is an openSUSE account. Good bug reports involve a description of what is required to reproduce an issue, including versions, commands, logs, files, and screen captures.
Remember that developers use this to resolve issues in openSUSE for everyone. If you are unsure if the behavior you see is a genuine bug, please first run your problem by the friendly interactive support options listed above. See Reporting software problems to learn how to use the system.
- Draft idea of web based support (help, "wizard") that will guide new user; wizard language must be plain - no technical lingo;
- Expand support topics to include web services. Currently it is written with distribution in mind, and even that is coarse with the general links, like openSUSE:Communication channels, which is now link to all article about communication channels, from support to development and chat.