OpenSUSE Leap 15.1 released

A new version of the "Community" editon of the Swedish-owned German Linux distribution SUSE Linux Enterprise is now available with back-ports of newer graphics drivers and improved network management in their custom YaST configuration tool.

openSUSE Leap is a long-term support "stable" distribution which uses Linux Kernel 4.12. That kernel version is not a officially supported LTS kernel but openSUSE has decided to use it as one anyway and have back-ported the latest graphics drivers from 4.19 to the 4.12-based kernel shipped with openSUSE.

New in 15.1 is a switched to using NetworkManager for both wired and wireless connections. The SUSE-specific configuration tool YaST has been updated to accommodate this change.

Same Desktop Options and Versions

There does not appear to be anything new in that area in this release. openSUSE still offers KDE, GNOME and "Generic Desktop" as well as "Server" installation choices and you get KDE 5.12 or GNOME 3.26 or IceVM ("generic") depending on which you choose. You can install other desktops afterwards if you choose.

Installing the Xfce desktop through YaST after openSUSE is installed on your computer will give you the single most buggy edition of Xfce 4.12 we've tried as of yet. The display configuration tool and the panel keyboard layout switcher are missing and can apparently not be installed from YaST. Trying to install some Xfce themes gives a YaSY message about "package conflicts".

Laptops and server services already available

openSUSE Leap 15.1 is released with hardware providers offering laptops with the distribution pre-installed. The laptop maker Slimbooks in Estonia offer interesting-looking thin laptops with the KDE logo on the back and Tuxedo Computers seem to offer both desktops and laptops with the distribution pre-installed.

"Cloud ready"

It would almost be strange if SUSE did not mention that openSUSE is ready for "virtualized and cloud environments.". Their partner is already Linode offering servers with OpenSUSE 15.1. It will also be available on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and something called OpenStack.

Links

You can read the announcement and download it using the following links if you are curious to try this Germany Linux distribution:

• Announcement: https://news.opensuse.org/2019/05/22/opensuse-community-releases-leap-15-1-version/
• Download: https://software.opensuse.org/distributions/leap

last edited 2019-05-23

Sort by date Sort by score

Enable comment auto-refresher

You are ignoring the author of this comment

Show comment | Manage ignore list

Yuri

31 months ago

Score 0

Xfce's aren't and it's broken by design. Suse's own tools for switching keyboard layout and screen resolution are indeed there, Xfce's are not and they are omitted because they "conflict with Yast". I write in several languages and switch between different keyboard layouts a lot. I need to be able to quickly change keyboard layout from the panel, using some slow special Suse tool & logging out and back in to change keyboard shortcut because that's "the Suse" way is just ridiculous.

Writing a full review of the OpenSUSE is still on the TODO list, btw. It will probably be using KDE as a desktop since Xfce isn't one it it's primary choices.

Permalink

Add your comment

LinuxReviews welcomes all comments. If you do not want to be anonymous, register or log in. It is free.

Latest news headlines

• Monero P2Pool V1.0 Is Released
• Macs & MacOS: Greener Grass?
• Privacy vs "I have nothing to hide"
• GIMP 2.99.6 Is Released
• Tor 0.4.5.8 Is Released
• New Versions Of The GNUstep Base Library, GUI library, GUI Backend And GNUstep Gorm Are Released
• AMDVLK 2021.Q2.2 Driver Is Re-Compiled And Re-Released
• AMD Radeon Open Compute 4.2 Is Released
• Mousepad 0.5.5 Is Released With Client Side Decorations And Spellchecking

See the more archive for news headlines