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The openSUSE project has released openSUSE 13.2, a major update for the great green gecko-wielding distro.
This release comes on the heels of some major changes for how <a href="https://news.opensuse.org/2014/10/24/tumbleweed-factory-rolling-releases-to-merge/">openSUSE releases are structured</a>. While the main release, like this week's 13.2, remains unchanged, the openSUSE project has merged its two unstable, semi-rolling release channels, Factory and Tumbleweed, into a single project named Tumbleweed.
Now that openSUSE 13.2 is out the door, Tumbleweed will be the release to track for those who'd like to stay on the bleeding edge. Somewhat confusingly, the name Factory is still being used to refer to pre-Tumbleweed, unstable releases that you most likely will never want to know about.
It will be interesting to see how a rolling release works alongside the traditional structure, but if you like openSUSE, but don't like waiting for major new updates, well, now you have options -- you can have your openSUSE and eat your rolling distro too.
In past reviews I've written that openSUSE has one of the nicest default KDE desktops you'll find. The good news for KDE fans is that 13.2 is no exception to that rule. OpenSUSE continues to offer a great, green-tinged KDE experience.
That said, not a lot has changed for KDE in this release. OpenSUSE 13.2 will not offer Plasma Workspace 5.1, the next-generation KDE desktop interface, which is still far too rough around the edges to get a spot in a stability-focused distro like openSUSE (but it is available in the repos if you want to test it). Instead openSUSE 13.2 is a relatively minor update for the KDE stack, adding some KDE Frameworks 5 elements, but sticking with Plasma 4.x for most. The default theme sees some small updates as well.
There's much more in openSUSE 13.2 for GNOME users who get the new GNOME 3.14.
GNOME 3.14 in openSUSE is a bit different than what you'll find in more stock GNOME distros like Fedora. For example, several of the new GNOME-created apps are not included in the default GNOME install from an openSUSE live CD. The revamped Weather app and the new Photos app are nowhere to be found. Instead openSUSE sticks with Shotwell for Photos and doesn't offer a Weather app by default. The GNOME Maps app is included though.
OpenSUSE also does not use Software, which, to be fair, really only seems to work with Fedora. Instead, openSUSE uses its own cross-desktop YaST software manager, which looks and functions more or less the same in both GNOME and KDE -- something of a rarity in software managers.
All the missing GNOME apps are available in the default openSUSE repositories though, so you can install them without any trouble.
The GNOME 3.14 update also continues to polish the desktop's HiDPI screen support, which took a huge leap forward in GNOME 3.12. This release sees GNOME fixing some of the small, but irksome problems with HiDPI screens. The result is a desktop that's one of the best I've tested on HiDPI screens.
Perhaps the most noticeable change in GNOME 3.14 -- at least in terms of everyday use -- are the new animations that happen when you switch applications and maximize or restore windows. It's a long way from the kind of crazy window animations that were possible if you tweaked GNOME 2.x, but it does add a little excitement to the otherwise stolid GNOME Shell interface. The animations strike a nice balance between boring and pointless.
Under the hood in openSUSE 13.2 you'll find the 3.16 version of the Linux kernel. That's not as current as, for example, the recently released Fedora 21, which uses 3.17, but it is in keeping with openSUSE's slightly more conservative approach to updates.
There's also a ton of new stuff since the last openSUSE release, which shipped with the 3.11 kernel. Since then there's been quite a bit of new hardware support added -- especially some new support for HiDPI screens, which coincides with GNOME's updated HiDPI support. Together those two updates alone make openSUSE a worthwhile update for anyone using a HiDPI machine like the Lenovo Yoga Pro line.
The updated kernel also means btrfs works better, which is good because it's the new default option in the openSUSE installer. As part of the previous 13.1 release, openSUSE declared the btrfs file system "stable for everyday usage". However, since 13.1 was an "evergreen" release (SUSE slang for long term support) btrfs was still not the default.
That's changed in 13.2. Assuming you don't change the defaults, you will end up with an openSUSE 13.2 installation running atop btrfs. Btrfs is also the default in the just released SUSE Linux Enterprise 12, making it the first enterprise-targeted distro to embrace btrfs.
It's worth noting that the openSUSE 13.2 installer does propose a separate xfs partition for /home (or ext4 if you prefer). That's exactly what I went ahead and did back when btrfs was declared "stable" in openSUSE 13.1 and I've had no problems so far. That said, I also haven't tried using many of its more advanced features and I do keep /home in ext4.
This release includes an updated version of the Snapper GUI which allows you to boot right into one of your btrfs snapshots should you need to recover from some kind of file system corruption.
Clearly, since it's now the default file system, openSUSE thinks btrfs is ready for prime time. If you plan to try it, have a look at the btrfs wiki, which has some tips on what you can do to <a href="https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Getting_started">improve your btrfs experience</a>.
OpenSUSE 13.2 brings a few new elements to the distro's famed YaST package manager and installer. A favorite of some system admins, YaST is openSUSE's administrative control panel, handling tasks like software management, user administration, disk partitioning and a variety of other admin and maintenance tasks. The previous release saw openSUSE move YaST from a homegrown programming language to Ruby in an effort to make it more approachable for new developers.
This time around openSUSE has been tweaking the installation process. Gone are the "second stage" setup screens (as openSUSE called them). Instead, once you've hit install, the next thing you'll see is (in GNOME anyway) the option to set up your online accounts.
There's an interesting option in the installer which allows you to skip the actual installation and instead export the configuration as a complete AutoYaST profile for use elsewhere (that profile is also output by the default at the end of new installs).
As you would expect for a release pushing btrfs, YaST has been optimized to work better on btrfs. The release notes also report that YaST integrates better with the sysadmin boogieman, systemd.
I've been using openSUSE daily ever since it hit RC1 about a month ago and have had no problems. The stability of this release is on par with what openSUSE has delivered in the past and stands head and shoulders above other distros I've been testing during that same time, notably Ubuntu 14.10 and Fedora 21. OpenSUSE does of course lag a bit behind the other two when it comes to offering the latest and greatest package updates.
Still, if you're looking for a solid, stable system that won't let you down openSUSE 13.2 fits the bill. If you'd like to have the stable base, but want something closer to a rolling release distro, there's always Tumbleweed.
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