The open source company SUSE is known for its commercial SUSE Linux Enterprise offerings for desktop and server users. The company also sponsors a free and open source community distribution known as openSUSE, which is widely popular among open source enthusiasts across the world.
openSUSE further offers two releases: Leap follows the fixed release model and Tumbleweed follows the rolling release model. In this article, I’m going to tell you about the latest openSUSE Leap 15.1 stable release that’s based on SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 Service Pack 1.
The official announcement blog post mentions that Leap 15.1 comes with many new innovations that benefit the overall performance, security, and basic usage. Furthermore, the announcement also describes how a vast range of supported hardware and great performance on a VM or container makes it a great choice for professional users.
The release of @openSUSE Leap 15.1 provides adopters a reliable server operating system for deploying IT services and the tools, languages and libraries to have fun – https://t.co/4pkoRAQNqn #hobby #sysadmin #tech #fun pic.twitter.com/NKKyZJoW7g
— openSUSE Linux (@openSUSE) May 22, 2019
What’s new in openSUSE Leap 15.1?
Starting with the desktop environment, Leap 15.1 lets you choose multiple desktop environments like KDE, GNOME, and Xfce. The specific options available with Leap 15.1 are KDE Plasma 15.2 and GNOME 3.26.
The distro also ships with an entirely new graphics stack. However, the new release is still powered by Linux kernel 4.12 but it contains the much-needed backporting from 4.19. You also get better support for AMD Vega CPUs and other hardware.
To make your 4K (HiDPI) experience better, Leap 15.1 will now detect them and scale the desktop to deliver a crisp visual experience. For audiophiles, there are enhancements like High Definition HD-audio and other updates like backported USB-audio drivers.
Moving on to the container-driven workflow, this release comes with Singularity, which lets one create minimal containers and run them as a single app environment. Combined with other container-focused tools like Podman and Buildah, developers have promised to deliver a lightweight alternative to Docker.
Upgrading my workstation to the today released @opensuse Leap 15.1 worked smoothly! Took about half an hour and a reboot.
Thank you chameleons and great job everyone! #opensuse #Linux pic.twitter.com/xfGlYLseZQ
— John S. Fontanelli ?? (@commel) May 22, 2019
Full Linux Experience On Raspberry Pi
The blog post also mentions that openSUSE Leap 15.1 for ARM64 is the first multi-purpose OS that lets you enjoy a complete standard Linux desktop experience on Raspberry Pi. So what does it mean? It means that the standard Leap ISO image can be directly installed on the Pi; it doesn’t need any customized image. The Leap installer detects the Pi, applies the pre-defined configurations, and proceeds with the installation.
Download and update
The developers have advised the openSUSE Leap 15.0 users to upgrade to Leap 15.1 as 15.0’s support cycle is set to expire in the next 6 months. For those who don’t know, Leap 15’s minor versions get an 18 month of support.
For those who are interested in performing a clean installation, the ISO and torrent files can be found here. Give it a try and share your experiences in the comments section with us. Keep reading!
