OpenSUSE: A Beautiful Linux Distro

[@arminrosic]

Used OpenSUSE for a few years - absolutely awesome distro. Great to see it promoted by such an awesome channel.

[@babarajasekhar713]

He looks exactly same since his first upload. He's a vampire.

[@ExplainingComputers]

:O

[@Rajorsi]

He looks the same since past 40 years

[@pavan13]

@@Rajorsi have you seen him 40 years ago 😂🤣

[@aguywithananimeprofile8950]

Forever young

[@babarajasekhar713]

@@ExplainingComputers Yes sir, I'm watching your videos during pandemic , you are the same person.

[@youp1tralala]

Running openSUSE Tumbleweed on my work laptop for 2 years now, updated weekly. It is a phenomenal rolling distro. If something breaks (rare) you can reboot into the previous snapshot and restore it. What makes openSUSE special is: excellent KDE Plasma integration, btrfs by default, snapper, yast, zypper (the package manager), basis for an enterprise distro (SLES),and more than anything its development model with openQA (automated package testing), the OBS and Tumbleweed

[@garrickstokes]

Yeah, I used openSuSE at work for over a decade. It's extremely solid. I was surprised he didn't mention the enterprise migration path. It's not exactly a common feature! Flat out disappointed he didn't demonstrate the virtualization. Also it's one of the oldest available distributions. It's not overstating the case to describe it as "venerable". Funny how many people it's new to when Yast would still be familiar to anybody who used it 20 years ago 😂 First distro I ever paid money for. On the shelf in PC world!!!

[@youp1tralala]

@Shaun G It only reverts the changes, thus very fast and efficient.

[@piscikeeper]

@@garrickstokes I've been using it for 20 years, and still have boxed sets of SuSE pro releases. Every time they got sold over the years, I swore if there was something I didn't like, I would switch to Slackware full time. The zypper dup command will always be the easiest way to upgrade. I've had YAST fail because it was blocking itself from running updates.

[@augustoenriquebarretoreyes6735]

My first "gnu/linux" system about year 1995 was a Slackware, may be 3.1 version -- 12 1.44 diskettes. Then i followed with "S.u.S.E" 5.1 and since then through its history have allways had one as my default operating system. Installed and tried several others, just as examples, Gentoo, Ubuntu (a descendant of founding DEBIAN), LinuxFromScratch u.s.w. Right now with Leap 5.2 and Tumbleweed, as default. Work as have become usual, very well. Allways with KDE as graphical environment and that is what is my only complaint, unfortunately no more several virtual desktops each one with its own picture. Now alongside KDE you have several more managers to choose from but no one so "stark"; same should be said for "Yast", not "yet another setup tool" but almost a perfect one, so that i have forgotten how to manage the cli. With openSuSE you can tackle allmost any type of work, servers and desktop, as well as developing. Of course a somewhat weak point, sound and video editing. But ... my distribution of choice. Agree with mr. Pujols.

[@joegee2815]

It's not sad, it's fantastic. Average users can go with Mint or one of the Maclike versions and enjoy life. Us geeks can try different distros and build storage systems and plex servers on a variety of operating systems. It's a fantastic time to be a computer enthusiast.

[@mawamatakama5150]

Finally OpenSUSE is receiving the credit that deserves.

[@svampebob007]

I really love OpenSUSE, I've just picked up Linux about two years ago, and fell in love with Manjaro and Arch as a whole, but I slowly started to need something more reliable and something that wouldn't crash after every update. It's been about 4-6 months since I've settled on OpenSUSE and combining it with the Arch Wiki (best linux documentation ever). 2 out of those 4-6 months I've been working remotely 200Km away from my desktop and despite being a relative Linux Noob OpenSuse has not crashed or failed me yet even after reinstalling drives, removing KDE, to isntal GNOME, and back to KDE and removing GNOME , several reboots and a masive mistake of removing X11 :) :) :) I'm running 2 linux VM, 1 Windows VM with GPU pass-though, 1 Android VM and 1 Web server off this machine, with 3 remote users (one 2300Km away, I'm mildly impressed by that even though distance doesn't matter if it works on lan it should work remotely) I've tried several times to get into linux but always found it kinda annoying to set up, and I never managed to do anything really useful with other distro due to constant crash and random errors :) that's before I found Manjaro, that eventually lead me to OpenSUSE!

[@svampebob007]

@Max Raider Yeah bare metal with Windows (w GPU), 2xManjaro, and Android (as of two days ago ) as VMs. I use KVM/Qemu and use virtmanager to manage the VMs, also VirIO for the GPU pass-through. While interacting with the VMs is done with NoMachine. It's Amazing how well it works, when you've figured out the correct setup. it has rendered dual booting or a dedicated (not shit) laptop for traveling obsolete for me.

[@svampebob007]

@Max Raider sorry for the long answers, but yeah initially the GPU pass-through was for CAD and 3D rendering, but I've dabbled in gaming, and did a lot of gaming over the summer. I haven't noticed any issues with games. Compatibility is like bare metal for gaming, the performance is basically like bare metal, I bet I'm losing a couple of % of FPS, but if I was worried about a few % I'd do a dual boot. I can still run games like GTA V on max, All of the games I've tested worked without any issue. I don't think it's "E-sport" worthy, but I don't think a regular user or regular gamer would notice it was a VM if you didn't tell them. The only compatibility issue is for software that knows that VMs are a "threat" to their license and just refuse to run or hide some functions behind a pay wall (solid works was one of the software I couldn't run). It's definitely something I'd recommend people to try out if they are already into Linux, but also like having a Windows machine on hand. Great guide for single gpu passthrough: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXPbcpSXh6l4e9k

[@svampebob007]

@Max Raider Indeed, I feel like now is the time for Linux to shine! And yeah it does make a difference what GPU you got, lucky for me I got both a newer Nvidia and an older AMD for twice the pain. As of now I've got a RTX 2080 in pass-through, and a R9 290 for the host. unless you want to pass both over to a VM (or only have a single GPU) it's quite straight forward, most online tutorial (I used the Arch Wiki) explains it. For Nvidia one extra step is needed to hide the vm from the driver (code 43) While my old AMD needed to have the frame buffer disabled in grub (again to avoid Code 43 for a different reason most newer AMD works just fine according to the internet) doing single gpu pass-through requires a bit more steps, but it's basically it's just about unloading the Nvidia/AMD driers and loading VirtIO via custom scripts (see the video I linked), and if you got two of the same GPU, it used to not be possible to do it... but some guys have apparently solved this issue as well, I don't know how or what's needed but the point is that VMs aren't just for production environments or big companies with massive IT departments anymore. As for OpenSUSE role in all this? stability, even with all this I've yet to see a major crash that wasn't caused by me, and I've still been able to recover even over ssh.

[@SphynxAl]

Absolutely agree

[@michelfilion5482]

Another good intro to a good distro. You certainly nailed it when talking about the cornucopia of Linux choices available to newcomers and how confusing it can get. Distros x desktop environments x Debian, Arch, Slack etc...quite an array indeed. So I agree completely that the time has come for the majors to band together and produce a Windows replacement killer distro that could be broadly adopted for home, work and servers. Cheers.

[@George_K1]

I agree with you, we are in a dire need of a Windows replacement ... But I am not sure the "Majors" banding together will ultimately work in the best interest of Open Source Linux! We need an Independent body of standardization rather...Please see my comment above. I am not impressed with Conanical's bad business practices, and SUSE and IBM's Red Hat got their corporate interest and profit to worry about, even though Red Hat and SUSE have helped Linux immensely.

[@derekp2674]

I think the main problem is that all these OSes are just appliances on which we can run useful apps. For example, if you want to browse the web, Firefox is an excellent browser and runs nicely on Linux. But if you need to work with spreadsheets, Excel is the de facto world professional standard and does not run natively on Linux.

[@George_K1]

@@derekp2674 I don't know what you are talking about ... Appliances ?? This is an Extreme over simplification of the Realm of Linux and Windows and the challenging issues in the scope of use and utilization of the Operating Systems.... Go to the Distrowatch Linux website and explore the myriad variation of Distros and get some idea of Linux before you say Appliances..

[@derekp2674]

@@George_K1 Last time I was on Distrowatch, my favourite distros, MX and Mint, were topping the table, along with Manjaro. From time to time I do go there and select interesting sounding distros to try out. But, for my needs, I have yet to find anything better than MX, Mint and antiX. In the context of what ordinary home users need to run apps like Acrobat, Photoshop, Excel, Final Cut, etc. the PC is merely an appliance for running useful apps.

[@ionbladezofficial]

finally, many years waiting for this episode. Been using openSUSE since 2007.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Glad I got there in the end!

[@elviraeloramilosic9813]

SUSE is beautiful, very versatile OS, Yast is cherry on top of SUSE. Time to test/experiment/play. Greetings Chris, 👋🏻 excellent video, excellent OS. I love it. 👌🏻

[@elviraeloramilosic9813]

Anonymous Yes. And I like it. A lot. 👌🏻

[@mustafakhan6701]

Hello i want some help ??

[@elihernandez330]

Linux using pretty girls doing exist. Federal agent detected.

[@LMacNeill]

I agree 100% -- *so* many Linux distros to choose from just makes it nearly impossible for someone who isn't *very* motivated. They have to want to switch badly enough to do many hours of research before finally choosing a distro that works best for them. And, really, no matter how much research a person does, they really don't know how it will work for them until they use it for awhile -- so there's always the risk of choosing the wrong distro and having to re-install everything after a couple of weeks. It winds up just being easier to give in and run Windows like everyone else, despite Windows' many flaws. But I love watching the videos on this channel because I get exposed to so many of these distros -- where else could we see so many all in one place! Excellent work, as always -- thank you so much!

[@PatrickConstant]

I agree. And there is another problem: if, on Linux, you use a rolling update distribution (like Manjaro or spaciel OpenSUS as we've seen), you have the "up to date" software with "up to date" bugs. On others classic distributions (Ubuntu, Mint, Calculate...), upgrade version is not so easy. TO BE OR NOT TO BE LINUX ADDICT ... THAT IS THE QUESTION.

[@knightshousegames]

To me, that is an advantage though, it means theres a lot of possibilities. If you end up not liking a distro, theres always other choices. You aren't just locked in to one way of doing things The truth is, any distro can look like any other distro visually, so it comes down to what features you want. I decided on Manjaro because having access to the AUR, which makes it so you can get access to pretty much any software available on Linux which is really nice, plus I dont have to reinstall every 2-4 years like I would have on Ubuntu or other non-rolling distros. Also, Pamac, Manjaro's package manager, is just the nicest one I've dealt with, it's super elegant. Of course you have to shop around a little bit to decide what you like, but thats the way it's gonna be with anything. If you are looking to switch to something else, you don't just grab the first thing off the shelf you see and say "good enough", you have to find something that is gonna be better for you than what you are replacing. And with Linux, it costs you nothing to try as many distros as you want, and spinning up a VM just to give a distro a spin around the block is easy. When I was making the switch, I tried a whole bunch of different distros before finally landing on Manjaro, including SUSE. I also watched a lot of Linux KZbinrs like this to see what was out there. It just gave me such an appreciation for the idea of "I don't like this part of my OS, lets switch it out!" It's not like Windows where if you don't like part of how your OS works, you just have to put up with it, if you disagree with a distro's choice in desktop environment, or don't like how the file browser works, you can just download a new one, and the creators of that distro aren't gonna punish you for it or something. It's just so nice when your computer works the way you want it to, and not the way someone else wants it to.

[@GutnarmEVE]

Earlier this year, I spent countless hours in discussion with my dad about whether he would migrate to Linux or upgrade to Win10, and he was quite hestitant (he moved from Mac to Windows about 24 years ago): he did some research on his own, and was just overwhelmed by the choices available, while still unsure he actually wanted to adapt to something new, being close to retirement. In the end, I just handed him my trusty T420 with Mint for him to try out, and we'd talk after a week. Today, he still got *a* Windows 10 machine for Adobe/XPress/Cubase (and a constant source for random headaches), but there's penguins in the office now, not just in the server closet. The time I spend on support has decreased by I'd say 2/3rds, easily. PS: I still haven't got my Thinkpad back - his wife does all her research work and writing on it by now, and I happily approve :)

[@jajwarehouse1]

@@tardis2005 The biggest problem is that a lot of niche business applications are built to run on Windows only. IT wants to stick to one operating system as much as possible, so having some departments running Linux while others are on Windows, and still others on Mac is out of the question. If all applications could run on anything, then I am sure Linux would come out on top, but unfortunately that is not the case. Hopefully someday the niche application devs will learn to build all apps cross-platform, but that opens up a lot of support issues that they just do not want to take on any time soon.

[@gokhanersumer2273]

@@jajwarehouse1 google "c++ play sound windows". It has single simple answer, just an API call which works on all windows versions . Now google "c++ play sound linux". Answer is complicated and differs by distro / sound library. This is just an example. So, dont hold your breath.

[@Nerd3927]

Living on my boat, I am on mobile internet only, so I choose the Net install. Saves 1.8 GB updates on the Iso image you do not need to download :-)

[@KowboyUSA]

Living the dream, aye?

[@jackladd4332]

Thanks mate i wondered that. I too am on mobile. I'll do it your way and put it on an old laptop i use for KZbin.

[@stalinvlad]

Are you just off the coast at Bournemouth with the other 5000+ matlows in lockdown?

[@jackladd4332]

@@stalinvlad no mate. It's just that i gave up home broadband last month and decided to use mobile tethering. 68mb/s, can't notice any difference to be honest. Even torrenting is good. I got a good deal from Virgin, 100gig for £10/month.

[@barryhaeger4284]

@@jackladd4332 I gave up Broadband via wire or Fibre and went 4G Wireless a year ago and for £15/m I have unlimited 4G at variable speeds of between 17M/s and 55M/s down and 12m/s to 45M/s upload and I'm looking forward to 5G speeds within the next few months Thank you Three Mobile. I should say the price I get is because I was already a Three Mobile Customer and they rewarded my loyalty and gave a further discount due to the false start I had when first set up But I'm sticking with it.:-)

[@joeg3950]

My son and I have tried most of the main Linux distros out there. OpenSuse was one of our favorites. It ran well and took little time to orient ourselves to the system. Currently, I run Linux Mint and couldn’t be happier. As soon as we are able, we always watch your latest video. Excellent work and great information. Thank you

[@Rakesh_Chandran]

OpenSUSE is the only distro in which I found a GUI option for editing the bootloader. Awesome feature! Every distro should have something comprehensive and centralized as YaST.

[@josebetancourt8355]

Two other interesting feature of OpenSUSE are: 1. Its usage of the BtrFS filesystem for the root partition. It allows the creation of snapshots and provides the user with the ability to roll-back in the event a patch/update damages the installation. 2. OpenSUSE Leap can be migrated to its Enterprise-level parent (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server) with just a few commands. In essence you get an enterprise-level distribution with patches for free. If you like it and you want support, you can then purchase the SLES subscription and perform an in-place migration.

[@rutkowskir]

I've been running Open SUSE for a while and set up a RAID 5 array using the YaST Partitioner and 10 X 32GB USB sticks. Made about a 290GB drive out of it. I used USB sticks with the light so when there is disk activity you get a nice flashing look! It is a great O/S!

[@MicrobyteAlan]

First thing I do is go full screen. Perfect, exactly what I was looking for. Interesting and well presented thanks

[@ExplainingComputers]

Great to hear!

[@Reziac]

@@ExplainingComputers And this one seemed to go by very fast, so I wasn't done watching when it ended. A fine way to start a Sunday morning. :D BTW if you right-click on the KDE menu, there are alternative menu formats available.. first thing I do is switch to the classic menu. (Hate the launcher...) And then.... Global theme - Breeze Dark Plasma style - Oxygen Application style - Oxygen Window Decorations - Plastik Colors - Obsidian Coast Icons - Oxygen and I now have a beautiful, eye-restful desktop with classy highlights on selected items.

[@nunyobiznez875]

Great video. I've been using openSUSE as my primary OS for about 17 years now, all the way since SuSE Linux 9.0. I absolutely love openSUSE. I fairly regularly look at all of the other mainstream distros, but although there are many good distros, there's still no other that beats openSUSE in my opinion. Most distros provide mostly the same software packages, and defaults are changed 5 minutes after setup. So the most important distinction from one distro to the next in my opinion, is distro specific software, such as the package manager, config utilities and system tools, and openSUSE has, by FAR, the best system tools with YaST. It's one of the few that can be fully configured by GUI from a central location, which is rather convenient. YaST also works without X, which is a blessing if something goes wrong. It's also fully LSB compliant, unlike many distros, and standards are important.

[@mlambrechts1]

Hi, I have been an openSUSE user, but switched to Mint. The reason: I found openSUSE to slow down my system, but then again this was 5 years ago. I'm still interested in coming back to SUSE.

[@nunyobiznez875]

​@@mlambrechts1 I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "slow down my system", since that can mean a lot of different things, and can therefore be caused by many more. But, as I'm sure you're probably already aware, a distribution is just a large collection of software, not a specific piece of software itself. The individual software packages provided by any specific distro, will be the same or very similar packages to most any other available distro, and there's really not going to be a significant noticeable performance difference between one particular distribution vs any other, in terms of user noticeable speed. It more likely boils down to a problem with an individual specific software package, or possibly configuration/settings of a particular package, or possibly configuration/settings of a particular hardware device. Your best bet in that situation would be to post in the openSUSE forums about the problem, and ask for someone to help you to properly diagnose and correct the issue, because it can most likely be easily resolved. But since this issue was 5 years ago, whatever your issue was way back then, it's unlikely to have persisted.

[@misobarisic4013]

I see a Linux Distro video. I like. I see an OpenSUSE video. My 💓 grows

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@chronosschiron]

suse tried to take over linux and failed GROKLAW.NET

[@Nibardocano]

9:27 "One percent of the memory has gone off on holiday" 😂

[@iStormUK]

Think thats a bug, in that it rounds values oddly :D

[@waynestewart1919]

:D

[@chronosschiron]

GROKLAW.NET

[@ArifBillahOnGoogle]

Using Math.float instead of Math.round is probably what caused the bug.

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

It's on holiday. The year of linux, where memory go on holiday, the DE has poorly aligned items, inconsistent use of font sizes, and many more visual headaches...

[@edwardfitz-gibbon6484]

Thanks Chris. Your unique style is always upbeat and cheerful.

[@ExplainingComputers]

I appreciate that!

[@laneharder9993]

Something about the line about the RAM at 9:22 cracks me up lol. Great video, Chris!

[@cupchanger]

Thank you for providing such great content in all your videos. I am a long time subscriber, your videos have been a great distraction from all the covid related stories. You decided early on to keep your content on topic and it has been greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work.

[@TheBrimurray]

Enjoyed this one, nice to see OpenSUSE again... haven't tried this since way back in 2008!

[@AndrewAHayes]

Linux should have an Official "Welcome To Linux" distro that is set up for novices and people moving from Windows, very much along the lines of Mint.

[@fred-youtube]

Linus Torvalds uses Fedora, so maybe try that, especially the KDE editon

[@CommodoreFan64]

If it is based on Ubuntu no Thanks!! Canonical is the MS of the Linux world. I would rather see Mint DE, and Manjaro take over, and Canonical aka Ubuntu be pushed into irrelevance.

[@zufaligedaten]

@@CommodoreFan64 but Mint DE is based on ubuntu.

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@zufaligedaten No Mint DE stands for Mint Debian Edition, it's the Mint teams back up for when Canonical goes totally south, and they are not stuck without a backup plan. You might want to do your research next time before commenting 🤦 www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3867

[@zufaligedaten]

@@CommodoreFan64 oh, I did not know that existed.

[@googoldtcom]

I really liked your video, as always, on how you explained openSUSE. I use Tumbleweed because I need the newest things without breaking and/or stability problems. It's unique in its way of doing things, for example: the YaST or zypper. About "too many Linux distros", I don't agree at all. Usually there some parts that's standardised and if all it gets standardised, it looses its uniqueness. I understand that maybe it's part of the solution of more people using the Linux operating system (a.k.a. GNU/Linux). About getting a distro to begin with Linux, I recommend Linux Mint because it's really beginner-friendly, based on Ubuntu and you don't have any problems at all.

[@annablendermann]

I'm testing out openSUSE for the first time and this man is simply delightful. I'm well on my way!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Enjoy openSUSE!

[@annablendermann]

@@ExplainingComputers Thank you Chris! I'm possibly hoping to work for them as well. Cheers!

[@ExplainingComputers]

@@annablendermann Now that would be cool. Good luck! :)

[@srtcsb]

Love the wallpaper you chose for this video. Reminds me of the old days when we used monochrome green screens on huge CAD system monitors. I started learning about Linux in the late 90's and the same was true back then... Lots of distro's to choose from. So I guess a silver lining is that geeks like us are still out there, keeping desktop Linux alive and kicking. Thanks for another great video Chris.

[@perrymcclusky4695]

I wonder if this distro is voice activated? “Open SUSE!” Looking forward to your next video.

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@waynestewart1919]

Um, I'm pretty sure that Disney would try to claim it was to close to copyright infringement on their 1992 movie "Aladdin". LOL

[@perrymcclusky4695]

Wayne Stewart Sadly true, yet another mousetrap to avoid!

[@IbnALathar]

As sys admin openSUSE my favorite distro

[@hadireg]

Great demo for OpenSUSE! I used it in the past, I'm keen to give it a try again... Thanks!👍👍

[@rkadowns]

Ironically, SuSE (OpenSuSE) is one of the oldest and most mature distributions existing today. Long linage, and the Linux I learned on many decades ago. Nice review, and I'm happy to see that SuSE has embraced Enlightenment.

I love the fact OpenSUSE now comes with programs that lets the user work with AI. No other distro has that. Not even the BSDs. I'm shocked because FreeBSD allows the user to create jails, & has ZFS. You'd think they would keep up with Linux, especially OpenSUSE with AI programs. Then there's CentOS Server Addition. A disappointment due to the sheer size of the full iso (7+ gig!), you'd think they'd give you the secrets of the universe in an iso of that size. I found a great PC in a dumpster. The only problem being it runs Win8, which means password protection. But I'll just install OpenSUSE, format the drive, instàll the OS, & let Linux take over.

[@erichoberg3502]

I first used OpenSuse when transitioning from Windows. I'm not currently using it as I continually have internet issues, it never just works when installed. It's a pity as I would go back but still occurred only a couple of weeks back.

[@chronosschiron]

GROKLAW.NET

[@ninline2000]

Around 2 decades ago I moved from the Commodore Amiga to SUSE linux. I had picked up a dual PII/333 Intel Server at a good price and I bought a boxed set of disks and manuals at the local Best Buy in Macon, Ga. I never looked back. It was marvelous and ran so smooth on the dual CPU machine. Since then I've tried many distros, it is hard to settle on one. I used Ubuntu for a long time but they moved to Unity and I left in a hurry.

[@Lanzetsu]

Yay my main Distro, YAST is still awesome as the first day, and honestly OpenSUSE is super solid and it is not only main distro but also the best looking KDE Distro out of the box IMO.

[@johnhoog]

Thanks Chris for this review.. You are absolutely right about the setup and performance of OpenSUSE.. It runs super on my puny, Atom powered Lenovo 2in1 laptop now 8 years old.. Keep up the good work Chris..

12:40 For beginners (and even for intermediate and advanced users), may be nicer to use One Click Install from the openSUSE Software Portal instead (as briefly showed in 14:45). There, the user can search for a larger selection of software (as many additional Build Service repositories are listed), view screenshots (if available) and then download and open the meta-package with one click. The wizard built into YaST will guide the user through the whole process, allowing the required repositories to be marked as trusted and added and all the packages and their dependencies installed.

[@Aaron-iz3hk]

I feel exactly the same about Linux. I use Mint myself as well. It started as just a hobby but is turning into my go to for "admin" and other similar projects. I even have an iMac running Mint and booting straight into Retro Pie :-)

[@buzzword4388]

I miss the days when you could buy SUSE Linux in a beautiful green box, with some nice printed manuals and a handful of CD-ROMs. That was over 15 years ago, before I left it for Ubuntu, then I left Ubuntu for Linux Mint. I remember the old "Susie Linux" as rock-solid stable and a great way to get more years out of older hardware. Another great video, BTW!

[@DallasMike424]

Nicely done, as always. I occasionally had to use SUSE back when I was a working stiff but have never seen or even considered SUSE. Spot on about the number of Linux distros. I know several bright people who have considered using Linux but are overwhelmed by the sheer number of distros available. OpenSUSE has to be good because you never called it a swine. If a gizmo fails Barnatt's Swine Test, it must be dodgy. Hope you are well and your health is good. Mrs. Dallas Mike and I keep you in our prayers.

[@chriholt]

I always enjoy your Linux distro reviews. I never really considered the point you made about there being so many great distros so it kind of dilutes Linux’s appeal.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Greetings Chris. Hope all is well with you.

[@Mc_Nizzle]

I have tried Ubuntu some years ago, but I was not able to use it. Thanks to EC I gave Linux Mint a try and I think that's what I was looking for. This channel is very good and my next project will be to set up a Rapsberry Pi4 because of this channel. Thanks!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Good luck with the Pi. :)

[@deechvogt1589]

Chris, thanks for the tour through Open SUSE. I think GNU/Linux, like many things these days, suffers from too many option, inducing choice paralysis. However, ultimately, distribution choice doesn't matter. They serve only a starting point created for convenience of the user. A GNU/Linux distribution is only a compilation or assembly of software modules. A virtual machine with nearly infinitely replaceable parts. If you don't like how one part of the machine works for your use case, then with some research and learning, you have the freedom to change it. I admit this can be time consuming or painful or near impossible depending on how many other pieces of the machine depend on piece being replaced. Choice is freedom but freedom has some costs.

What matters is the ecosystem built around certain distributions. SUSE has both commercial and community driven products, that package some technologies that are almost exclusive, like Zypper, YaST and Build Service. So, there are more involved than just pre-built binares packaged by a team.

[@Magus12000BC]

I do appreciate these Linux distro videos. When Windows 7 support ended, I upgraded to Windows 8.1 just to avoid Windows 10 or making the jump to Linux. But I know that I'll eventually have to do the latter sooner or later.

[@elihernandez330]

I highly suggest that you look up Windows 10 super light. I believe I have the distro saved on my archive drive since I really liked it but I accidentally updated it and then it just reactivated the monster but if you don't touch it it will hold updates off until 2099 and it disables all the shit too and ran super fast. So I'd recommend that and just completely stay out of the update tab because if you mess with a single thing it reawakens the demon.

[@emiliokennkierza260]

Elementary os: Am I a joke to you? Deepin: Yes, how about me as well? KDE Neon: Yo, wtf? Ubuntu mate: *sipping tea*

[@ExplainingComputers]

I think you reinforce my point -- there are far too many distros for me to list them all. And as I made clear, the distros I mentioned a the the end are those I most and most favour. I did not say "here is a list of all distros!". :) Just these are my own favourites.

[@gagan.dee.p]

Whenever I feel like checking out linux, I always go for ubuntu but this distro looks very neat. I will try this out on my older laptop. Thanks. Very nice video, well presented as always. ❤️

[@sbc_tinkerer]

Another fine videoooo. I have Tumbleweed running on one of my x86 based sbcs and like it very much. Constant updates though as expected. I agree with you about the sheer number of distros being available (not even counting the niche distros). Couple that with the number of different desktop environments and the choice is overwhelming. The biggest problem lies with human nature. While a person dislikes having no options, give them too many and they get dazed and confused and cannot make up their mind. For geeks and nerds like us, not really a problem. Be well sir!

[@synchro505]

Did some IT work once for a company that made motorcycle accessories. Their warehouse software ran on a server running OpenSUSE. It was very impressive and the company was very happy with it.

[@lesliedeana5142]

That's a good point about the number of Distros... It's sort of like going to a good restaurant, so many choices, one almost wishes there weren't so many as you often end up wondering if you ordered the best thing for the night.

[@MidnightSky801]

That Odyssey computer looks very cool with that blue case. I like the size, too. 😎👍

[@dwculp]

I LOVED SUSE Linux back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. It came with everything, including the kitchen sink on DVD. At the time, it’s YAST installer was ahead of its time and was one of the easiest Linux installs out there. I might need to try them out again. Thanks for the video!

[@viacheslavspitsyn2995]

What distro did you switch to after OpenSuse and why?

[@mohammedmohammed519]

OpenSUSE Tumbleweed has been my daily driver for the past year. Brilliant experience.

[@MatthewHill]

I feel the same way about Linux. Love the Flexibility, and the ability to do your own thing, but sometimes I do wish there was just a bit more standardization, especially on the desktop.

[@ExtraLargeWindow]

Chris is great at explaining computers.

[@RoboNuggie]

OpenSUSE, one of the lesser hyped distributions out there but still a consideration nonetheless. Venturing down the rabbit hole that is the topic of over saturation in the Linux ecosystem is something for a whole video in itself :-) Thank you for all you do Christopher!

[@kjcolewelle]

The minimum requirements seem impressive for a standard-type distro; I haven't looked at openSUSE/SUSE Linux for a number of years but I am glad to see YaST is still more than making the grade; it was once a great help getting into Linux as a noob - things "just worked" well before Ubuntu came along. Thanks for reminding us of its particular appeal - might now give it another whirl!

[@dafyddr8678]

Definately one of my top five fav Linux. Mint & KDE Neon being top. Thanks for a very imormative video...

[@robertmaxa6631]

I agree with you on the point of lack of standardization, across the available distros. Also, because Windows, is so prevalent, there is a learning curve, that many people don't want to bother with. There are some Windows only programs, that open source, just can't touch, so there's that. Unless you want to install WINE, but then that opens your computer to Windows based malware. I managed to find, a very good replacement for Photoscape, for Windows, for Linux, it's gthumb. It's really easy to use, and does exactly what I need it to do. Photoscape, still has more manipulation options, when it comes to contrast, and such, but still works well. Good video.

[@markarca6360]

I just recently installed the 32-bit OpenSUSE Tumbleweed (KDE Plasma Desktop Environment) in a VM (Oracle VirtualBox) and it really works great, even with low system specs (less than 1 GB of system RAM).

[@awesomefacepalm]

My first own PC was a PII with SuSE 8.1/9.1 (yes before it was named OpenSUSE), when I was 9 years old It will always have a special place in my heart

[@CoolDudeClem]

Looks nice and clean. IF ALL of my windows software had Linux versions I'd jump to this like a shot.

[@neilshastri1184]

Great video, as usual! I use LinuxMint as my daily driver as well, but KDE Connect is one of the apps that I was first introduced to in OpenSUSE, and have subsequently installed on LM. It allows you to connect your Android phone in a number of different ways, including as an input device (like a remote trackpad and keyboard), as well as share files to and from the OS. Great for downloading pictures taken on a phone, which otherwise is a bit of a pain.

[@dave_w8476]

Many thanks for this video. I've been looking for a mini pc on a tight budget for some time and having seen this video I took the plunge and bought the Odyssey blue from amazon at a reasonable £219 which includes a 128GB SSD (but looks like NVme). Just installed linux mint and even the wifi works with no fiddling around. I'm bowled over with this product!

[@paullee107]

Hey, I love all of your videos and single board computers... which is probably why; thanks for bringing a clear mind and honest reviews of all these products. I’ve been using the pinebook pro for a few weeks, and I really suggest you get one- heck I bet they’d send you a review unit- or, I’d happily help explaining computers get one (with others!) - they are solid. It’s very single board-esque, an arm processor and only $199. I really think it’s a great little laptop that I’d love to hear you review.

[@anthonymccarthy4164]

I agree it's frustrating that there are so many really wonderful Linux distributions. I tried MX and loved it, it has the most beautiful desktop of any software I've ever used. But while I might consider dual booting it with Mint Mate, I can't justify replacing Mint with it. I do use Puppy Linux live from a CD for all my financial transactions, I'd never do those from an installed OS, no matter how secure it's supposed to be. Another great video.

[@JoseFernandez-yz1sf]

Since I installed opensuse about 20+ years ago, I have not used any other distro, what I like it the most is Yast. Also the configurability is fantastic.

[@Britec09]

Nice video Chris

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks!

[@chronosschiron]

GROKLAW.NET

[@cbob213]

@@chronosschiron WTF IS GROKLAW

[@chronosschiron]

@@cbob213 wensit that a paralegal did during the fight about open suse and SCO , trying to take over linux a few years ago check the site out its a HUGE library about the bs they doxed her, and hten she gave up when she said year back there is no secureemail anymore and a lot a the ecrypted email places were getting hacked

[@chronosschiron]

@@cbob213 SCO lost that fight and IBM helped the linux side with funding for it and this is why linus allowed ubm to buy red hat

[@spuds7677]

I like Open Suse. I have been using off and on for about 20 years now. I bought a copy of Suse Linux Pro 8.0 when it first came out. It did all sorts of cool stuff and it was way more polished than any other Linux Distro at the time I bought it. I have a spare laptop that's a few years old now. I may upgrade to a SSD and install it on it.

[@gyozakeynsianism]

I used openSUSE for years and I loved it. I particularly liked their KDE implementation.

[@creatorboix]

All i wish is that they bring SUSE studio back

[@6581punk]

Is that by Phil Collins?

[@jaredmeit6127]

@@6581punkyou deserve more credit for that joke. Lol

As you may have known already, SUSE Studio was merged with OBS. There are some templates available and the OBS project has great documentation. Do you think OBS is too hard to be used?

[@creatorboix]

@ well its not working? i tried to use it but some buttons aren't working.

[@ionbladezofficial]

same. OBS is not for everyone. The studio was the greatest thing ever. Miss building things with my own backgrounds, software, startup scripts.... you get the idea.

[@g-r-a-e-m-e-]

Seems well suited to older and a bit underpowered PCs. I like it. Thanks!😀

It may be, but you need to select a lightweight desktop environment, otherwise, the machine will soon run out of memory in realistic daily tasks, especially those that includes a web browser as a central piece.

[@christophmeyer2693]

Well I've seen i3 2100 with 8GB of RAM go for 30€ on Ebay that are taken out of business (converts to about the same into US dollar) so I don't know why you would torture yourself with a PC that is even older than that. And that was 2 years ago.

[@aguila17]

This channel feels like home to me, there’s not a single upload with content I’m not interested in

[@ExplainingComputers]

Great to hear!

[@jvrammstein]

man, you chanel is the best!!! uma abraço aqui do Brasil!!!

[@dennys82]

Hi Christopher, great channel as usual. I love openSUSE with XFCE environment! It's my main OS on stable basis after two years spent with Zorin where I wasn't fully aware of its limits. I like the fact that this distro doesn't easily consent to install unstable packages like the ones from snapd that may easily break something for whatever reason. Yast is great and it contains a better system management even when additional repo might be added. The firewall is also better conceived. I mainly do graphic development with Blender (mostly STL for 3D print stuff) and I like to play some games on Steam Play where the proton side is growing year after year. Maybe the previous versions was more AMD friendly than Nvidia but I've changed also for this reason years ago, going back to Radeon GPU due to stability problems with Nvidia proprietary drivers. Linus Torvalds was right about them! ;)

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for this detailed Linux feedback. :)

[@mischiefloki]

Currently using Linux Lite and Zorin Lite on old computers... Zorin Education Edition for students... Linux Mint on newer computers... Yet to try Tiny Core and Puppy Linux on very old computers... So far, most of the Windows users (that I have introduced to Linux) seem to prefer Linux Mint or Zorin OS... Thanks for the informative and helpful videos...Stay blessed and stay safe! That last part is for everyone!

[@StevenHess]

I run openSUSE Tumbleweed. Love it. Wife runs it on her computer too. If I couldn't run Tumbleweed or openSUSE anymore I'd be running Debian.

[@hvxcolors396]

In fact it is also one of the oldest distros. I use it for about 20 years now. Back in the days it was sold on DVDs in a big box. The advantage is that you can use it on all platforms. A company would buy Suse, an individual can opt for the free OpenSuse on X86 or Arm. Installed with KDE it feels a lot like windows xp. The only problem I see is that yast is hidden in a menu. An advantage is also that most software is available for it via rpms, as long as you dont forget to select packman repository. I think you could ask OpenSuse to make their official introduction video. Not many people are able to introduce a linux distribution in such a clear way as you do. Thx

[@johnfairfield7498]

Again, an excellent video. I've been distro hopping looking for one that would catch my eye long enough to let it last on a PC longer than a week. I've only gone through 12 so far. I had forgotten about SuSe Linux. I used it for a bit when it was SuSe Linux Pro. I'm dating myself a little. Anyway, great video easy to follow the procedure. Of course I had to try Tumbleweed too. By the way, just noticed that Puppy Linux came out with a new distro that runs on the Raspberry PI 4 too. Thanks again for another highly informative video in your channel.

[@Theferg1]

Thank you sir!! I’m setting up a Cardano stake pool and I decided to use opensuse!!!

[@NewAgeDIY]

Good morning Chris A quick update from Vancouver Chris, the fires that have taken over California have invaded our air and it’s almost 7:30 AM and the sun is completely blocked by smoke! Now back to your new “Linux Disco.” That’s grabbed your attention. Having watched the full review I’m honestly don’t see the advantage of using this install. Given all different flavours of Linux it’s going to be hard to pick ones that’s going to check off all the boxes. Thanks for today’s review see you next week.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Hi Dale -- stay safe. Until next week, Chris. :)

[@mauriceelliott5902]

Again, another straightforward, well explained and interesting video. I agree with you that there are so many good versions of Linux out there and maybe two or three that draw on all the best aspects of Linux would encourage even more people would appreciate the benefits of using Linux. Thanks again.

[@PhilosopherRex]

What Init does OpenSuse use? Kinda skipped over that part. I use Devuan now as I want choice in my init (currently favoring OpenRC). I like KDE, have heard good things about it and looks decent in the video, but have been using XFCE for a long time and am happy with it, so sticking with what I know.

[@JerryEricsson]

In 1994 I was attending University and because I was an older then average student, I chose to take all the computer classes that I could back then they could replace the math requirement, the science requirement and a few other things that were required to get my degree. What I didn't realize was that my life prior to college and my kids wanting a computer years ago led me to already know most of what was taught. So it was, in all the computer classes, after a few sessions I was picked by the instructors as assistants, and instead of doing the required work, I worked the floor going from student to student helping them learn the basics. Even the Advanced course were things I had already learned by playing with my Commodore, and later with an old Compaq running CPM then with my 386Sx that I purchased used. That stopped however when we got to UNIX, that was when I fell in love with Linux and since that time, I have always had a duel boot on my machine. Windows when I needed to be there for software that didn't play nice with Linux and some form of Linux, right now I am running Mint as my main OS and 10 as the secondary. Matter of fact I am in 10 right now because I was playing a game before I became bored and began searching for some great entertainment,

[@Kenny-bw2cz]

I remember using Suse back before I had broadband... I actually purchased the boxed version (!) That had several disks and a book with documentation. I used to love it... This was before ubuntu even existed. This and mandrake (mandriva) was another one. I have this open suse in a virtual machine

[@PatrickConstant]

Another great video. And as we say in french: "Choice kill the choice". If you hesitate between different beautiful distributions, there i s a moment when you say "Why I don't use this new great Linux distribution ?". On Windows or Appel, we don't have this kind of existential question. For my own use, I use Ubuntu but I have on my computer Mint and Manjaro. OpenSuse why not ? Ah Linux, you make my head spin.

[@makemoneynow5061]

Your videos are splendid! Thank you for giving me a new perspective to contemplate!

[@MrMackster01]

Your videos are some of the most thorough and professional! Would you consider doing a video on using Remote Desktop solutions with Linux and Raspberry pi?

[@erroneouscode]

The problem (if you could call it that) is not that there is so many distro's but that there is so many package managers and thus varying terminal commands to learn. The fact that there is so many distro's helps Linux evolve in my opinion. It allows contributors to freely code without being subdued or dominated by the ego's or directions of others. If the distro's were fewer it would be as stagnant and buggy as Windows and fewer people would be volunteering their time to work on it. The beauty of Linux is that it can go in so different directions and the best of the best gets absorbed by all, or at least available to all. Windows shoves the one version of something at you and calls it the greatest thing since sliced bread. Just put up with what we give you and eventually you might like it, but if you tinker too much we will change it back to our vision at the next update. The problem I see with Linux (and it's always been there) is the inability to incorporate all the latest codecs, DRM, licensing issues, keys etc etc. It's always been a battle to play some DVD's, most Blurays, the latest Dolby and DTS multi channel sound fields etc etc. It's a constant cat and mouse game with compromises and frustrations. One last thing that is a detriment to the uptake of Linux in my opinion is the elitism and snobbery of some distro's in deliberately making it very hard to install for novices, and if you do manage to get it installed and ask for help you'll get a brush off with RTFM!!!

[@dennisanderson8663]

Exactly. Too many distros and no common way to install applications to make it an easy to use operating system for average PC users.

[@oida10000]

Nice video. We used openSUSE in school, while I never picked it up it is nice.

[@blevenzon]

Thanks so much for your wonderful content as always

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for watching!

[@Codename1Alice8]

Very good video, in my opinion, opensuse has the best plasma-desktop integration.

[@morenteria2988]

I been using OpenSUSE Tumbleweed for 2 weeks now and I'm loving it!

[@frecio231]

A couple months later, but how are you doing with it now?

[@morenteria2988]

@@frecio231 still enjoying it. It's stable. Are you using it or thinking of using it?

[@frecio231]

@@morenteria2988 thinking of coming back

[@morenteria2988]

@@frecio231 what are you using now?

[@frecio231]

@@morenteria2988 not using linux currently, but I miss it, so I'm thinking a stable release, for some reasons, so I'm thinking openSUSE Leap, and update the KDE repo for a better plasma experience or KDE neon

[@stevewilliams1054]

Now retired in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s I did a lot of work on Novell NetWare systems, where I first came across SUSE linux. It is a great operating system and I built a number of servers running SUSE linux, in a live production environment.

[@daveindezmenez]

The main answer to Linux having greater desktop market penetration is it coming pre-installed on computers at regular stores. For the most part to get Linux you either have to install it yourself after you buy a computer (which many people are afraid to do, frightened of losing their Windows installation which they know is working) or needing to buy a computer online which often is more pricey than a typical Windows computer.

[@aldntn]

My memory goes on holiday occasionally.

[@chronosschiron]

SO DOES THY MEMORY GROKLAW.NET

[@LoganT547]

@@chronosschiron no

[@chronosschiron]

@@LoganT547 groklaw.net

[@LoganT547]

@@chronosschiron bruhmoment.com

[@chronosschiron]

@@LoganT547 groklaw.net

[@taidee]

Yes, Prof, thank you for a great review of openSuSE. I used this a lot when it was still SuSE, this and Mandrake were great distros and relatively easier to install when Linux was still a tough cookie to crack. The only solution for Linux would be if it comes preinstalled on new PCs Prof, that's how Windows became the default desktop OS, unfortunately.

[@ejbully]

KDE is a beauty on every distro

[@zeniktorres4320]

Agree. As a long time Gnome user, KDE is fantastic, more functional and and looks better. Running Kubuntu 21.04 with backports added to get the latest KDE Plasma 5.22.5. Nice.

[@gps4l184]

Watcting this on openSUSE tumbleweed. 🙂 I totally agree about your explanation of Leap vs Tumbleeed. I love YAST. One place for everything.

[@Wol747]

I do like the way the semi-transparency can kick in when moving a pane - very useful when you want to read something - like an instruction - below the active pane. It’s very frustrating sometimes when you are following something like a series of command line helps and have to juggle panes to see the next instruction: jiggling the active pane can let you read it without losing the active pane.

[@jbmorris2893]

14:03 “The trash can here seems to have crashed.” Yikes... lol!

[@RagHelen]

That's a standard feature on Windows! They stole it!

[@cokeforever]

@@RagHelen oh yeah, but unhandled crashes are a from linux world ;) dont get me wrong: kernel is fine, but userspace code is often sooo immature and broken...

[@FlyboyHelosim]

I totally agree that having so many Linux distros available does it no favors. It boggles the mind that there's so much choice but all they really do is change the visuals and pre-installed software. When people make custom versions of Windows XP, for example, it's still referred to as Windows XP. But, with Linux, it's considered an entirely new strain.

[@maartenc6099]

It has been a long time since I used Suse. Last time it was Suse 8.0 I believe. Nowadays I am a huge Ubuntu user (Kubuntu - KDE desktop). Nice to see Yast is still there. Have not looked at OpenSuse. And about the too many distro's I am glad that there are so many distro's. So I am not depended on one company like Microsoft our Apple.

[@jayrowe6473]

SUSE has been my favorite since 9.3 (around 2004?). I tried Red Hat, Ubuntu and Mint and a couple others but I always preferred the business-like feel of Suse. Great Video!