Want to help test the openSUSE kernel? Want the very latest and greatest openSUSE Linux kernel sources? We have good news for you!

After several months of preparation, the kernel team has set up a public Git repository for hosting the openSUSE kernel sources. If you’d like to work with the openSUSE Linux kernel as it’s developed, please read Kernel Git on the openSUSE wiki, which explains how to clone the repository and use it.

The repository will be synced several times a day, providing much more up-to-date code than the Kernel of the Day (KOTD). The KOTD will continue, of course, as a useful resource for testers and developers who aren’t working on the kernel.

We hope the new Git repository will be helpful to anyone testing openSUSE kernels or building their own derivatives.

As usual, remember to have a lot of fun!

As Thomas just announced on the project mailing list the election committee has decided to extend the period for announcing candidacy by one week to November 30. Same applies to request openSUSE membership status which makes you eligible to vote. With this change the period for candidates to campaign gets shortened by one week to start just one week prior to opening of the ballots. Start date of the election stays Tuesday December 8.

So now it’s up to you to announce your candidacy or just request membership

Have a lot of fun!

The time has come again for openSUSE Members to vote for new members to the Board.

Stephen Shaw (decriptor) and Bryen Yunashko (suseROCKS) have completed their tenure on the Board, and their seats are up for election. There is also a new seat available to be occupied by a non-Novell member. Henne Vogelsang (henne) and Pascal Bleser (yaloki) have another year to complete and will remain, Michael Löffler (michl) as chairman will remain as well. This means that as of this year’s election the openSUSE Board will be made up of equal numbers of Novell and non-Novell employees, 2 seats+Chairperson and 3 seats respectively. Candidates for this election will be voted in for a two (2) year term, ensuring that there is continuity within the Board.

The election is broken into three phases similar to last year:

October 26th, 2009 (Phase 0) (Now Complete)

• Start of 4 week period for non-members to apply for an openSUSE membership (in order to vote).
• Start of 4 week phase for members to stand for a position in the openSUSE Board.

November 23rd, 2009 (End of Phase 0)

• Notification of intent to run, and application for an openSUSE membership close .

November 24th, 2009 (Phase 1)

• Start of 2 week campaign for the Board Candidates before the ballots open. Candidates may campaign until the final bell when ballots close, should they wish.

December 8th, 2009 (Phase 2)

• Ballots open

December 22nd, 2009 (End of Phase 1 & 2)

• Ballots close

Should anyone have any questions, you can contact the Election Committee by emailing election-officials@opensuse.org or speaking to one of the members on IRC. It is best to always email the committee even if you speak to someone on IRC. Full details of the election can be found on the wiki here. Prospective candidates are highly encouraged to read this lwn.net article on some of the tasks required of Board members.

The next openSUSE Project meeting will take place Wednesday, November 18th, at 16:00 UTC. The meeting time in all time zones are listed on the Fixed Time World Clock. Project meetings are always held in the #opensuse-project channel on Freenode.

Please add your topics to the meeting wiki page at:

http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/Project_Meeting_2009-11-18

Please add topics as soon as possible. Also, if you have questions for the meeting, but can’t attend (we know that the meeting times can’t work for everyone) please add them to the agenda as well. We also take live questions, of course. Logs of the meeting are posted to the wiki here:

http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/Archive

New to openSUSE’s IRC meetings? For more on our IRC meetings and how they’re run, see: http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/About. Not familiar with IRC? A good overview can be found at irchelp.org. This site is not affiliated with openSUSE. For more information on Freenode, see http://freenode.net/.

As always, we meet in #opensuse-project on Freenode. Fire up your favorite IRC client and head over to #opensuse-project.

Wondering what meeting times are? Check the openSUSE Meetings page. All project meetings and team meetings should be listed there.

If you’re interested in how the openSUSE Project is run and want to participate, please be sure to join us on Wednesday. See you there!

The next openSUSE Project meeting will take place Wednesday, November 18th, at 16:00 UTC. The meeting time in all time zones are listed on the Fixed Time World Clock. Project meetings are always held in the #opensuse-project channel on Freenode.

Please add your topics to the meeting wiki page at:

http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/Project_Meeting_2009-11-18

Please add topics as soon as possible. Also, if you have questions for the meeting, but can’t attend (we know that the meeting times can’t work for everyone) please add them to the agenda as well. We also take live questions, of course. Logs of the meeting are posted to the wiki here:

http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/Archive

New to openSUSE’s IRC meetings? For more on our IRC meetings and how they’re run, see: http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/About. Not familiar with IRC? A good overview can be found at irchelp.org. This site is not affiliated with openSUSE. For more information on Freenode, see http://freenode.net/.

As always, we meet in #opensuse-project on Freenode. Fire up your favorite IRC client and head over to #opensuse-project.

Wondering what meeting times are? Check the openSUSE Meetings page. All project meetings and team meetings should be listed there.

If you’re interested in how the openSUSE Project is run and want to participate, please be sure to join us on Wednesday. See you there!

Issue #97 of openSUSE Weekly News is now out!

In this week’s issue:

* openSUSE 11.2 Released!
* Launch Party Locations
* KDE.NEWS/Will Stephenson: Introducing KDE 4 KNetworkManager
* Joe Brockmeier: Microblogging with Choqok in openSUSE 11.2
* h-online/Thorsten Leemhuis: Kernel Log: Coming in 2.6.32 (Part 2) – Graphics

For a list of available translations see this page:

http://en.opensuse.org/OpenSUSE_Weekly_News/97/Translations.

The next openSUSE Weekly News meeting will take place tomorrow  (Saturday November 14) at 14:30 UTC. As always, the meeting will be held in IRC on the #opensuse-newsletter channel on Freenode.

Please add your topics to the meeting wiki page at:

http://en.opensuse.org/OpenSUSE_Weekly_News/Meetings/Topics_current

We using for our Meeting the Meetbot. Please check http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot for the commands.

Please add topics as soon as possible. Also, if you have questions for the meeting, but can’t attend (we know that the meeting times can’t work for everyone) please add them to the agenda as well.

For more on IRC meetings, see: http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/About.

As always, we meet in #opensuse-newsletter on Freenode. Fire up your favorite IRC client and head over to #opensuse-newsletter.

Not familiar with IRC? A good overview can be found at irchelp.org. This site is not affiliated with openSUSE. For more information on Freenode, see http://freenode.net/.

Wondering what meeting times are? Check the openSUSE Meetings page. All project meetings and team meetings should be listed there.

on IRC meetings, see: http://en.opensuse.org/Meetings/About.

As always, we meet in #opensuse-newsletter on Freenode. Fire up your favorite IRC client and head over to #opensuse-newsletter.

Not familiar with IRC? A good overview can be found at irchelp.org. This site is not affiliated with openSUSE. For more information on Freenode, see http://freenode.net/.

Wondering what meeting times are? Check the openSUSE Meetings page. All project meetings and team meetings should be listed there.

The openSUSE Project is pleased to announce the release of openSUSE 11.2.  openSUSE 11.2 includes new versions of GNOME, KDE, OpenOffice.org, Firefox, the Linux kernel, and many, many more updates and improvements. In 11.2 you’ll find more than 1,000 open source desktop applications. openSUSE also includes a full suite of server software and a rich selection of open source development tools.

You can find a bevy of screenshots and more on the openSUSE wiki, and a lengthy list of packages and version numbers on DistroWatch.

Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting features of openSUSE 11.2!

openSUSE Desktop

As always, openSUSE provides everything you need to get started with Linux on the desktop.

openSUSE 11.2 includes KDE 4.3 as the “default” desktop. If you install from DVD without changing anything, you’ll have the KDE desktop by default. However, we still provide GNOME as an equal choice, and Xfce and other window managers as alternative desktops too!

KDE 4.3 is a major update to the KDE platform. It includes improved networking support, and work to make Firefox and OpenOffice.org better integrated with the KDE enviroment. The openSUSE Project also worked closely with the KDE Project on theming and branding to provide a look and feel that meshes both projects nicely.

You’ll also find plenty of GNOME greatness in openSUSE 11.2 as well. GNOME 2.28, the latest release of the popular GNOME desktop, is included with 11.2. This release includes a brand new theme, improved software update application, improvements in GNOME’s Webcam and video application, and many other enhancements and improvements to prepare the GNOME platform for GNOME 3.0 in 2010.

OpenOffice.org 3.1 is a complete office productivity suite compatible with Microsoft Office. This release includes improvements in change tracking and collaboration in Writer, and major improvements to the drawing application.

Social networking gets a boost in 11.2 with the addition of GNOME and KDE microblogging clients that handle multiple social network sites, Gwibber, and Choqok.

With openSUSE 11.2, you have the ability to install GNOME or KDE live media from USB, and numerous improvements to make openSUSE 11.2 much better on netbooks.

Under the Hood

The desktop improvements are the most noticeable, but there’s plenty going on under the hood as well in openSUSE 11.2.

Storage improvements include the ability to encrypt the entire hard disk, for users concerned about data security. Users can also take advantage of the next generation of filesystems for Linux with Ext4 or btrfs. In case you’d like to learn more about the new kernel features you can go at KernelNewbies.org and have a look at the “cool stuff” part.

Want to manage remote openSUSE servers with a Web interface? That day is coming soon! openSUSE 11.2 users can install the first technology preview of WebYaST: a Web-based remote administration tool for openSUSE systems.

Finally, you can upgrade in-place using Zypper! Though it’s been possible to do an upgrade in place for some time, with caution, it’s finally a “recommended” method of upgrade with openSUSE 11.2. For users who want to move from 11.1 to 11.2 using “zypper dup,” see Andreas Jaeger’s post on Lizards about the process. It’s quick, it’s easy, and almost competely painless.

Linux for Education

The openSUSE Build Service provides thousands of applications as 1-click packages to enhance your experience on openSUSE 11.2. The openSUSE Education Community provides hundreds of Educational applications suitable for students of all ages, parents, teachers and IT administrators of educational institutions via the Build Service.

The 11.2 release will be followed closely by a very special spin, Li-f-e: Linux for Education. Li-f-e contains GNOME, KDE as well the the award-winning Sugar learning environment for children. With packages from the Packman repository, Li-f-e provides everything required to get rich multimedia experience too.

Media and Download

openSUSE is now available for immediate download! You have several choices of installation media and live CDs (which are also installable).

• openSUSE 11.2 Installable DVD 32-bit
• openSUSE 11.2 Installable DVD 64-bit
• openSUSE 11.2 GNOME 32-bit Live CD
• openSUSE 11.2 GNOME 64-bit Live CD
• openSUSE 11.2 KDE 32-bit Live CD
• openSUSE 11.2 KDE 64-bit Live CD

Booting openSUSE 11.2 from a USB key: get one of the Live CDs available above, and can copy it to a USB key with the following command:

dd if=image.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M

Replace “image.iso” with the name of the ISO image that you have downloaded, and replace “sdX” with the actual device name of your USB drive. Be careful! This will erase the target device, so make sure you have the correct device name and have any vital data backed up!

We want to hear from you!

The openSUSE Project has many channels of communication! Whether you prefer forums, email, or IRC, there are plenty of ways to communicate about openSUSE.

• The official openSUSE forums.
• Mailing  Lists: be sure to sign up for the mailing lists that fit your interests!
• IRC: #opensuse on irc.freenode.net and other channels.
• Jabber, usenet, and more.

To keep up to date with openSUSE, be sure to keep an eye on openSUSE News and watch Planet SUSE for blog posts from the openSUSE community. We also update the @opensuse account on Twitter and Identi.ca regularly with news about the project.

Want to help the openSUSE Project? To get involved with openSUSE see the How to Participate page on the openSUSE wiki. We can use lots of different skills to help the project, so feel free to jump in!

Thanks!

openSUSE 11.2 represents the combined effort of hundreds of developers who participate in openSUSE, and thousands of developers in upstream projects that are shipped in openSUSE. The contributors, inside and outside the openSUSE Project, should be proud of this release, and they deserve a major “thank you” for all of the hard work and care that have gone into 11.2.

When we say “contributor,” we don’t mean only developers and packagers. This includes translators, openSUSE Ambassadors, the openSUSE Board, and the users who help power our forums and support users who are taking their first steps into Linux.

We are confident that openSUSE 11.2 is the best openSUSE release yet, and that it will help to encourage the use of Linux everywhere! We hope that you have a lot of fun while you use openSUSE 11.2!

With openSUSE 11.2 right around the corner, let’s take a look at what’s new and interesting in the GNOME desktop for this release. Highlights include a preview of GNOME 3.0, new applets and application updates, and the incredibly attractive Sonar theme new for 11.2.

For users coming from 11.1, openSUSE 11.2 actually features two GNOME releases worth of updates. Because of the lengthy release cycle, openSUSE skipped the 2.26 release and jumped to GNOME 2.28, which was made available in September.

Nautilus now has a plugin to allow quick and easy file sharing. Just right-click on the folder you’d like to share and select “Sharing Options.” This makes use of Samba, so you need to enable directory sharing under the Samba Server module in YaST.

New and Improved Cheese

The Webcam application for GNOME, Cheese, includes some enhancements for 2.28, including a redesigned interface that’s better suited for netbooks.

Not only does openSUSE feature the goodness from upstream GNOME, but also some home-grown improvements as well. For instance, the Sonar theme that is the default in 11.2. It’s a slightly darker, but still green, theme that’s pleasant to look at and show off to users new to Linux!

Vincent Untz, a member of the openSUSE Booster team and member of the GNOME Foundation Board, says that part of the main focus for 11.2 was “to be a better upstream citizen” with GNOME. So, for the most part, openSUSE does not diverge greatly from upstream GNOME — but there are some differences.

For example, GNOME 2.28 ships Empathy as the default instant messaging client. Untz says that it’s likely openSUSE will switch to Empathy in 11.3, but due to issues with some protocols and proxies, it was decided to keep Pidgin as the default client for one more release. Empathy is, of course, available via the repositories, so users who want to start with Empathy now can do so.

Want to get a preview of GNOME 3.0? The final GNOME 3.0 release isn’t due until September 2010, but openSUSE 11.2 has an early build of GNOME Shell in the repositories and users can see what all the fuss is about (or will be about), early on.

And, of course, you’ll find Firefox as the default Web browser for openSUSE instead of Epiphany. openSUSE users will find the most recent stable version of Firefox (3.5) on their GNOME desktop, though Epiphany and its new Webkit backend are available in the openSUSE 11.2 repositories.

All in all, there’s a lot to look forward to in GNOME in openSUSE 11.2. Be ready to grab it on November 12th!

We’re very, very close to the final release of openSUSE 11.2!

To help promote the 11.2 release, we have banners for openSUSE 11.2 available on the openSUSE wiki, courtesy of Jakub Steiner (jimmac). They’re available in most standard ad sizes for the Web, so you should be able to find one to fit your blog or site.

When openSUSE 11.2 is released you can link to the openSUSE.org home page or to the download page for 11.2 directly.

Take a look – they’re quite good! (And no, 11.2 isn’t “out now” just yet. Unless you’re reading this on Thursday after the release, or later…)

openSUSE 11.2 banner by Jakub Steiner