this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2024

293 points (97.7% liked)

Linux

48185 readers

1112 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

293

SUSE Requests openSUSE to Rebrand (linuxiac.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

172 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/37281970

Believe it or not, an unexpected conflict has arisen in the openSUSE community with its long-time supporter and namesake, the SUSE company.

At the heart of this tension lies a quiet request that has stirred not-so-quiet ripples across the open source landscape: SUSE has formally asked openSUSE to discontinue using its brand name.

Richard Brown, a key figure within the openSUSE project, shared insights into the discussions that have unfolded behind closed doors.

Despite SUSE’s request’s calm and respectful tone, the implications of not meeting it could be far-reaching, threatening the symbiotic relationship that has benefited both entities over the years.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

And you really think, people who are willing and able to buy enterprise support for their Linux distro get confused by the naming?

No, I don't think that. I *know* that because I'm active in the community.

OpenSuse is essentially free marketing for SUSE, nobody would know them otherwise.

That is absolute nonsense. SUSE mostly serves large enterprise customers. That's an entirely different demographic from people who care about Desktop Linux or setting up a home server.

Edit:

its market share is relatively small compared to Red Hat or Canonical.

I'm pretty sure SUSE is bigger than Canonical.

Editedit: According to wikipedia SUSE's revenue is about twice as high as Canonical's

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (4 children)

That is absolute nonsense. SUSE mostly serves large enterprise customers.

And where do you think the people deciding what to buy get their information? Mind share is important.

I'm pretty sure SUSE is bigger than Canonical.

That's actually surprising to me, but I'd argue that Suse offers more products, it seems like Rancher, Longhorn, etc. have no canonical equivalent.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And where do you think the people deciding what to buy get their information?

Advertisements at large airports

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

OMG. This is so hilariously true.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If enterprise IT departments could decide what kind of IT infrastructure gets bought, systems administrators across the world would be elated.

Unfortunately, a lot of technical decisions are made in conferences, on golf courses, in sky boxes near stadiums, and in plain and simple YouTube ads.

I agree that mind share is important, but Fedora seems to be doing a fine job selling Red Hat Enterprise Linux, as did CentOS before it. You don't need to have an identical name as long as the company maintaining the free product has its logos everywhere.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

as did CentOS before it

Fedora is older than CentOS?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

I was referring to the companies moving from CentOS to RHEL (or Rocky/Alma/whatever).now that CentOS is practically dead.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

And where do you think the people deciding what to buy get their information? Mind share is important.

Most certainly not in Linux distro community spaces, because those are completely irrelevant for them and their needs.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Almost everybody that chooses SUSE ( SLE ) does so because of SAP.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

I’m surprised and happy that SUSE is still doing well. I have fond memories of using SUSE in the enterprise especially around their “perfect guest” campaign for using it in virtualized environments. I thought they had very well-baked integration with large Windows networks—things just worked out of the box that didn’t with RHEL. I’m sure a lot has changed in the last decade but I appreciated their cooperative stance in the enterprise.