OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, an Ideal Desktop for Linux Admins, Power Users
You probably know about SUSE, which is one of the unsung heroes for enterprise-grade Linux. SUSE Linux Enterprise has been around since its early days of being owned by Novell when it was released as Novell Linux Desktop in 2004. Since then it’s evolved into a powerful Linux distribution that is perfectly at home in the enterprise world… be it on a server or desktop.
But what about everyone else?
Well, you know how Red Hat has Fedora? In the same vein, SUSE has openSUSE. Unlike SUSE, openSUSE is fully free, is a great option for home and business use, and is geared more toward the desktop (although you can install it as a server OS if you like).
And although openSUSE makes for a great desktop option for just about anyone, it’s admin-type users (and those with plenty of Linux experience) who can get the most out of this distribution.
Let me explain.
It all starts with…
YaST
YaST stands for Yet Another Setup Tool. Unlike most desktop distributions, where the Settings app is fairly straightforward and usable by nearly anyone, openSUSE’s YaST is to power users what Settings are for standard users. YaST offers far more categories for configuration and is geared toward tasks that aren’t exactly targeted at standard users (Figure 1). In YaST, you’ll find the ability to customize, configure, and tweak things like:
- Boot loader
- Software repositories
- Disk partitions
- Network settings
- Sysconfig editor
- Hostnames
- NTP configuration
- Proxy settings
- VNC
- Samba
- Windows Domain Membership
- AppArmor
- Firewall
- Hypervisor and tool installation/configuration.
- Relocation server configuration
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Figure 1: YaST is one of the more powerful configuration tools available for the Linux desktop.
What Is Tumbleweed?
There are two flavors of openSUSE: Tumbleweed and Leap. The difference between the two is that Tumbleweed is a rolling release distribution, whereas Leap follows the traditional release methodology.
What is a rolling release distribution? Essentially, it’s a Linux distribution that is always up-to-date with the latest software packages. Where Leap goes for stability, Tumbleweed goes for the latest and greatest. That doesn’t mean, however, that Tumbleweed is unstable. In fact, each Tumbleweed snapshot is tested using OpenQA, which is an automated testing service, so even the rolling release version of openSUSE is a viable option for daily usage, especially when you want the latest Linux kernel, latest desktop environments and other packages.
From YaST to the Desktop
Now that you understand how YaST plays into this, let’s talk about the desktop and why any user, regardless of experience, could use openSUSE. It’s all about the desktop and openSUSE offers plenty of options, including KDE Plasma, GNOME, Xfce, LXDE, LXQt, Enlightenment, Cinnamon, MATE, Pantheon, and more.
Of those options, those with less Linux experience should consider either KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, or Mate. If you want a modern desktop with a minimal UI, go with GNOME. If you want a modern take on the Windows UI, go with KDE Plasma. If you like the idea of Windows 7 or an old-school GNOME (v 2) desktop, go with either Cinnamon or Mate.
The good news is that openSUSE has options, all of which are outstanding in their own right. For my testing purposes, I went with KDE Plasma because I find it performs incredibly well and is one of the more elegant desktops on the market. On top of those two bits, KDE Plasma is also very user-friendly. But don’t think KDE Plasma is a desktop geared specifically for users who are new to Linux. KDE Plasma is perfectly at home with admin users, thanks to features like widgets, virtual desktops, and Activities.
Part of why I believe openSUSE Tumbleweed is an ideal desktop distribution for admins and power users is that it doesn’t limit your power and capabilities, thanks to YaST. At the same time, users who are new to Linux can get by with a traditional Settings application and don’t ever have to bother evening opening YaST. I would go so far as to say that users who are new to Linux shouldn’t open YaST because it can be a bit daunting. Just opening YaST requires a user’s password, which should give you some indication that there are serious options within.
In the KDE Plasma Settings app, on the other hand, you’ll find more traditional options for mouse/trackpad, keyboard/touchscreen, multimedia, sound, display, Bluetooth, printers, and more (Figure 2).
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Figure 2: The Plasma Settings app will be more familiar to average users.
Pre-installed Applications
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed ships with the standard collection of software, including LibreOffice, Firefox, KMail (Plasma email client), Akregator (News Feed Reader), VLC media player, the Kate advanced text editor, Emoji selector, KCalc (calculator), Kleopatra (certificate manager and unified Crypto GUI), Kompare (diff/patch frontend) and more. The collection of software doesn’t really scream admin user but when you dive into the System menu, you’ll find tools like the Crashed Process Viewer, System Monitor, Info Center, Super User Terminal mode, KWatchGnuPG (a viewer for the GnuPG log), and (of course), YaST.
Samba Share Simplicity
I’ve used openSUSE plenty of times in the past and, although it’s never become my default Linux distribution, I’ve always found it a powerful option that is not only a great choice for admins and power users but also for those users who might not have a ton of Linux experience but want a distribution that will help them learn the ins and outs of the open source operating system.
When you first start using openSUSE, you’ll default to your desktop environment’s Settings app but as you learn more and more, you’ll venture into the world of YaST, where you can use the GUI to configure Samba shares. One thing openSUSE (via YaST) can do that other distributions can’t is add and enable a Samba user via the GUI. Most distributions allow you to create the share but require that you manage users via the command line, which is done with the following commands:
sudo smbpasswd -a $USER sudo smbpasswd -e $USER
All of the above is done via YaST in openSUSE. For any user who has to share folders with a network, openSUSE makes the process quite simple… so long as you’re comfortable with YaST.
In the end, I would highly recommend you take a look at openSUSE Tumbleweed. This rolling release Linux distribution can serve as a solid introduction to Linux for users who want to learn fast, stay as up-to-date as possible, and enjoy a rock-solid operating system that can grow with you.
If you’re interested in trying openSUSE Tumbleweed, download an ISO file from the official site.
OpenSUSE Desktop.
