About SUSE, Novell, and Linux

SUSE (pronounced SOO-zuh) is a Linux operating system owned by Novell, Inc. SUSE stands for the German phrase Software- und System-Entwicklung (meaning Software and System Development). Its roots come from Slackware Linux, and SUSE officially became an independent Linux distribution in 1996 when SUSE released its first version:

4.2. SUSE was, and remains, one of the most popular Linux distributions in Europe.

In November of 2003, Novell acquired SUSE and put corporate drive behind the project. Today SUSE comes in three editions:

❑    SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) became the commercial, subscription- based Linux operating system produced by Novell, Inc. The goal was to provide an enterprise-ready desktop environment, offering support, training, documenta- tion, hardware certification, and other products to support SLED customers.

❑    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) is the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server edition, which focuses on server use rather than desktop use.

❑    openSUSE, an open source version of SUSE Linux without proprietary software or the support options of the enterprise Novell offerings, was launched by Novell in 2005. openSUSE is a community-driven operating system that is distributed for free (as is) and has become known for its hardware support and stability.

Comparing SUSE to Other Linux Versions

Using openSUSE Linux might be the best way to learn Linux if you have an eye toward becoming a Linux professional. With its focus on community development, you can be assured that you are getting some of the latest open source software available. The skills you learn will scale up nicely to the largest enterprise computing environments.

Besides Novell, Red Hat, Inc. is the other major corporation that is marketing Linux distributions in the enterprise market. The Red Hat operating systems follow the same basic dual-distribution model, with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as the basis of its commercial products and Fedora as its free, community-supported Linux system.

Debian is considered to be a high-quality Linux distribution with a strong commit- ment to the ideals of open source software. Many derivative Linux distributions, such as the popular Ubuntu Linux and the KNOPPIX live CD, are based on Debian. And although Debian is good for use in small business, the project doesn’t have the same enterprise infrastructure (training, support, documentation, and so on) that is built around SUSE Enterprise Linux.