The History of S.u.S.E

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Early SuSE experiences & boxed distros

  • Many commenters recall SuSE 5.x–7.x as their first serious Linux, often bought as boxed sets with thick manuals and multiple CDs.
  • Limited internet access at the time made having everything on-disk (kernel, compilers, Perl/PHP, docs) feel empowering and self-contained.
  • People contrast that slower, more focused learning era with today’s “Docker/GitHub/Google everything” environment.
  • Several switched later to Debian, Ubuntu, or Gentoo once they wanted more up‑to‑date packages or a different philosophy.

German Linux distributions & naming

  • Discussion of Deutsche Linux-Distribution (DLD) and LST as early German distros; also mentions Halloween Linux and SLS/Yggdrasil historically.
  • Some mock the “Deutsche …” naming; others defend it as pragmatic marketing and clear localization (“fully translated system + German manual”).
  • Long side-thread on naming conventions (“Deutsche”, “National”, SAP, Microsoft, IBM) and how “S.u.S.E.” originally meant “Software- und System-Entwicklung”.
  • Clarification of how “SUSE” is pronounced in German and English.

YaST, tooling & accessibility

  • YaST is repeatedly praised as ahead of its time: centralized administration, easy domain joining, dual ncurses/GTK/Qt interfaces via libyui.
  • SuSE’s early support for Braille terminals during installation is highlighted as unusually inclusive.
  • Users recall tools like SaX (X config) as critical for newcomers.

Filesystems, Snapper & reliability

  • Enthusiastic reports about Tumbleweed + btrfs + Snapper providing smooth rolling upgrades and reliable rollbacks.
  • Strong counter‑reports of btrfs root corruption and repeated recovery hassles; several users reinstalled on ext4/XFS and lost Snapper but gained stability.
  • Mention that enterprise SUSE recommends btrfs for OS and XFS for data.

Systemd & architecture debates

  • One commenter lost respect for SUSE when it adopted systemd; others argue systemd solves real problems (service management, timers, logging, cgroups, DNS).
  • Opponents object to systemd’s scope and centralization, preferring simpler or modular alternatives; some suggest non‑systemd distros.

openSUSE today: strengths & frustrations

  • Strengths cited: transactional updates, work on reproducible builds, good container tooling, stability for many desktop users, strong SAP alignment.
  • Complaints: zypper is slow; some hardware/software vendors only target Debian/Red Hat; ROCm support better on Ubuntu.
  • Several criticize SUSE/openSUSE messaging and product direction (Leap vs Tumbleweed vs “new thing”), calling it confusing and trust‑eroding, especially for servers.

Corporate ownership & culture

  • Former employees describe SUSE as an excellent engineering culture with passionate staff and active internal technical discussions.
  • Opinions on Novell/Attachmate are mixed: some recall them as good owners; others say SUSE survived despite weak, confused higher management and repeated acquisitions.

Market position & popularity

  • SUSE is seen as a respected, somewhat under‑the‑radar distro that “just works” for many.
  • Some note it is strong in SAP and Europe but rarely considered in certain regions (e.g., Southeast Asia, where Red Hat dominates).