GNU/Linux SUSE

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Reposted from wikipedia:

SUSE Linux was originally based on Slackware Linux; In mid-1992, Softlanding Linux System (SLS) was founded by Peter McDonald, which was the first comprehensive distribution to contain elements such as X and TCP/IP. The Slackware distribution (maintained by Patrick Volkerding) was initially based in large parts on SLS.

S.u.S.E was founded in late 1992 as a UNIX consulting group, which among other things regularly released software packages that included SLS and Slackware, and printed UNIX/Linux manuals. They released the first CD version of SLS/Slackware in 1994, under the name S.u.S.E Linux 1.0. It later integrated with the Jurix distribution of Florian La Roche (also based on Slackware), to release the first really unique S.u.S.E Linux 4.2 in 1996.

Major Versions:

1.0 = MAR 94
2.0 = ?
3.0 = 95
4.0 = 96
5.0 = NOV 97
6.0 = JAN 99
7.0 = SEP 00
8.0 = APR 02
9.0 = OCT 03
10.0 = OCT 05

The name "S.u.S.E.", later shortened to just "SuSE", was originally an acronym for the German phrase "Software- und System-Entwicklung" ("Software and system development"). The company is now simply called SUSE LINUX, and "SUSE" does not officially stand for anything any more. There is unofficial rumour that the name is analogy with the German computer pioneer Konrad Zuse.

On November 4, 2003, Novell announced it would acquire SUSE Linux (Shankland, 2003). The acquisition was expected to be finalized in January 2004 (Kennedy, 2003). According to Ramesh (2004), J. Philips (Novell's corporate technology strategist for the Asia Pacific region) stated that Novell would not "in the medium term" alter the way in which SUSE continues to be developed. At Novell's annual BrainShare gathering in 2004, all computers ran SUSE Linux for the first time. At this gathering it was also announced that the proprietary SUSE administration program YaST2 would be released into the public under the GPL license.

The legacy of SUSE is still evident in version 9.1 (released after the Novell acquisition) with its unique administration tools, high number of software-packages and extensive documentation. The latest version for the Personal edition is 9.2, released on 5 November 2004, while the latest version for the Professional edition is 9.3 released on 20 April 2005.

On August 4th, 2005, Novell spokesman and director of public relations Bruce Lowry announced that their SUSE Professional series will become completely open source and renamed openSUSE to reach a wider audience. The software, by definition of open source, already had their coding "open", but now the development process will now be "open", allowing developers and actual users to test the product. As part of the change, YaST Online Update server access will be complimentary for openSUSE users, and along the lines of most open source distributions, there will be a free download available on the web. It is rumored that Novell will sell a boxed edition of openSUSE, in addition. This change in philosophy starts with the 10.0 beta, released at the 2005 Linux World Conference.

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