Survey time again! After nearly a month of the openSUSE 11.0 release we want to know what you think about it, how you use it and about openSUSE.org in general. As usual we will post the results shortly after the survey is closed end of August. We’ll raffle some openSUSE t-shirts and caps under all participants. You will find the survey here: openSUSE 11.0 survey, it will only takes a few minutes …

btw: I already got feedback on it. If you think the questions should be different, just send me a mail: mlasars at suse.de ….

Join the openSUSE Project for a day of fun and FOSS at the LinuxWorld Expo! On Wednesday, August 6th, the openSUSE Project will be holding its first “openSUSE Day” in North America, in conjuction with the LinuxWorld Expo at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

We’ll have a full day of presentations about the openSUSE Project, KDE, GNOME, the Linux kernel, the openSUSE Build Service, and much more.

Come by and learn all about openSUSE, pick up an openSUSE 11.0 DVD and some of the fabulous door prizes — including openSUSE t-shirts, caps, and other big prizes.

The schedule runs from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., including an openSUSE Birds of a Feather at 4:15 p.m. See the full schedule on the wiki at: http://en.opensuse.org/OpenSUSE_Day_at_LinuxWorld_Expo. (Schedule subject to change.)

Want to help with the openSUSE Day or help staff the openSUSE booth in the LWE .Org Pavilion? We’d love to have you! If you’d like to get involved, speak up on the opensuse-marketing list or contact Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier (zonker@opensuse.org).

The openSUSE Project is proud to announce the 1.0 release of the openSUSE Build Service. The 1.0 release provides all the features necessary to support building openSUSE in the public build systems and allowing direct contributions to openSUSE from all contributors. Developers can now submit contributions to openSUSE directly at build.opensuse.org.

The openSUSE Build Service allows developers to create and maintain packages for openSUSE and many other Linux distributions, including CentOS, Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, Red Hat, and Ubuntu. With the 1.0 release, the openSUSE Build Service expands its scope to building the entire openSUSE release, and provides everyone with the same access and transparent interface to work on the openSUSE distribution.

The openSUSE Build Service has offered a simple collaboration system since its inception for groups to work closely together on packages or solutions stacks. The 1.0 release improves on existing functionality to allow the Build Service to scale to larger projects like openSUSE’s Factory distribution, and to allow building openSUSE’s stable releases in the open.

What the changes mean for contributors:

• Anyone can find a package’s working copy as maintained by the official packager or packaging team. Contributors can submit changes against the working copy.
• The submission handling and notification system has been put in place, allowing any contributor to request a merge of their changes to a project.
• Quality assurance happens before contributions are merged. Test builds of a suggested change are accessible to anyone.
• Improved branch handling. It is easy to set up a branch of a package. The branch will build in the same way as the original package, but can be modified.
• Source handling is improved in 1.0. It’s now possible to easily maintain a branch, and modifications are stored without creating a full copy. This makes it easier to maintain features based on the latest copy of package. The Build Service builds the latest packages, including modifications, automatically.

The majority of this functionality is implemented on the server side. The rest can be implemented by the various Build Service clients, so that contributors can take advantage of the new features.

The Build Service team has also introduced a number of smaller improvements and bugfixes to make the system more scalable and usable.

The openSUSE Build Service is now considered “feature complete” for collaboration. The Build Service team is looking for additional feedback on improving the openSUSE Build Service as it will now be the standard tool for working on the distribution.

With openSUSE 11.0 out the door, it’s time to start thinking about openSUSE 11.1. The public release of openSUSE 11.1 is scheduled for December 18, 2008, six months after the release of openSUSE 11.0.

The full schedule for the release cycle is as follows:

• Thu, Jul 24: openSUSE 11.1 Alpha1
• Thu, Aug 21: openSUSE 11.1 Alpha2
• Thu, Sep 18: openSUSE 11.1 Beta1 - snapshot release
• Thu, Oct 02: openSUSE 11.1 Beta2 - snapshot release
• Thu, Oct 16: openSUSE 11.1 Beta3 - snapshot release
• Thu, Oct 30: openSUSE 11.1 Beta4 - snapshot release
• Thu, Nov 13: openSUSE 11.1 RC1 - snapshot release
• Thu, Nov 27: openSUSE 11.1 RC2 - snapshot release
• Thu, Dec 4: openSUSE 11.1 GM - final release
• Thu, Dec 18 openSUSE 11.1 public release

This is, of course, a tentative schedule. Any critical or show-stopping bugs may delay betas and release candidates.

Major areas of interest in this release include:

• GNOME 2.24
• KDE: KDE 4.1.1 (optionally KDE 3.5.10)
• Continued improvement in the software update stack
• Linux kernel 2.6.27+

Want to get involved? The start of a release cycle is a great time to get involved in openSUSE development. See the How to Participate page on the openSUSE wiki for details.

See the full 11.1 roadmap on the openSUSE wiki for more details and updates.

Note that Coolo and Michl are on vacation until the end of next week, so let’s start the discussion on features once they are back on the opensuse-factory mailing list,

Andreas

We’re pleased to announce the public beta of the Novell Client for openSUSE 10.3. Novell released the packages for the Novell Client for Linux 2.0 SP1 public beta today.

A number of openSUSE users have expressed interest in having the client packaged for openSUSE, so our developers have been working on building the client against openSUSE. Please download the package and give it a try on your systems.

Novell is also working on a package for openSUSE 11.0, though we don’t have an official timeline for that package yet. We will also post an announcement when it’s available, and will post announcements for any further betas or the final release of the Novell Client for Linux.

Now that openSUSE 11.0 is out the door, the YaST team is looking to get together and improve YaST even more.

Next week the YaST team will be meeting in Nuremberg, Monday through Friday, to hack on YaST and work on some of the projects on the YaST Research page.

The improvements in YaST for 11.0 have been amazing, but there’s always room for improvement and innovation. Some of the ideas on the table now include:

• Porting YaST to other distros.
• Integration with PolicyKit.
• A Web interface for YaST.
• Make YaST more IPv6 compatible.
• Improve YaST documentation.

And there’s a lot more where that came from. If you’d like to get involved with the Hackshop, but don’t happen to be in Nuremberg, there’s a few ways you can participate. If you’re interested in taking part in the workshop remotely, please join in on #yast on Freenode and follow the discussion on yast-devel. We have limited space at the meeting facilities, but may be able to accommodate a few interested developers who would like to help improve YaST.

We’ll have a full report after the Hackfest, and would welcome suggestions and discussion on the yast-devel mailing list.

The openSUSE Project is proud to announce the release of openSUSE 11.0 — everything you need to get started with Linux on the desktop and on the server. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, the openSUSE Project provides free, easy access to the world’s most usable Linux distribution, openSUSE.

The 11.0 release of openSUSE includes more than 200 new features specific to openSUSE, a redesigned installer that makes openSUSE even easier to install, faster package management thanks to major updates in the ZYpp stack, and KDE 4, GNOME 2.22, Compiz Fusion, and much more.

On the Desktop

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Whether you use GNOME or KDE, the openSUSE 11.0 desktop is a beautiful experience. Users have the choice of GNOME 2.22, KDE 4, KDE 3.5, Xfce, and more! See the screenshot page for a in-depth look at the openSUSE desktop.

GNOME 2.22

GNOME users will find a lot to like in openSUSE 11.0. openSUSE’s GNOME is very close to upstream GNOME, because Novell and openSUSE want to do as much work as possible in the upstream release. However, we do modify GNOME’s artwork to provide a unified look and feel for the distro. The default GNOME configuration, such as panel layout, is slightly different than “stock” GNOME, and the openSUSE GNOME team backports a number of bug fixes into our GNOME release to ensure stability and the best possible GNOME experience.

GNOME 2.22 in openSUSE 11.0 includes the GNOME Virtual File System (GVFS), with better support for networked file systems, PulseAudio for better sound management, improvements in Evolution and Tomboy, and much more!

KDE 4.0

openSUSE 11.0 is the first openSUSE release to include a stable release of KDE 4.0. This release includes sweeping changes in the KDE desktop, and represents the next generation of KDE. This release includes a new desktop shell, called Plasma, a new look and feel (called Oxygen), and many interface and usability improvements.

KControl has been replaced with Systemsettings, which makes system configuration much easier. KDE’s window manager, KWin, now supports 3-D desktop effects.

KDE 4.0 doesn’t include KDEPIM applications, so the openSUSE team has included beta versions of the KDEPIM suite (KMail, KOrganizer, Akregator, etc.) from the KDE 4.1 branch that’s in development and scheduled to be released in July and for online update.

Note that KDE 3.5 is still available on the openSUSE DVD for KDE users who aren’t quite ready to make the leap to KDE 4.

Compiz Fusion

The openSUSE desktop is not only a green glorious sight to behold, it’s also available in 3-D! Compiz Fusion is now the default in openSUSE 11.0. You’ll find a slew of interesting Compiz plugins, as well as easier configuration with Simple CompizConfig Settings Manager (CCSM) and the more comprehensive CompizConfig Settings Manager that allows detailed configuration of your Compiz setup. See the Sneak Peek for a detailed look at Compiz Fusion on openSUSE 11.0.

Firefox 3.0

Firefox is one of the most popular open source applications on the planet, and the openSUSE desktop just wouldn’t be complete without Mozilla Firefox. The 3.0 release has a number of new features and improvements that will make browsing the Web on openSUSE convenient and safe, including better site identification features, simplified add-on installation and management, detection of “phishing” sites, the ability to save tabs on exit, better download manager, and a new page zoom feature that lets you zoom text or the entire page.

Note that openSUSE 11.0 ships with Firefox 3.0 beta 5, and updates to the final 3.0 release will be available through online update.

Banshee 1.0

openSUSE 11.0 includes Banshee 1.0. The Banshee media player has been re-written to improve performance and includes many new features, including video playback, better “shuffle” playback, support for iPods, MTP devices, and mass storage player devices, and support for podcasts and better Last.fm integration.

OpenOffice.org 2.4

You can work hard and play hard with openSUSE. If you need a high-quality office suite that’s Microsoft Office compatible, look no further than Novell’s OpenOffice.org 2.4. This release includes import support for OpenXML, 3-D transitions in Impress, SVG import support, improved performance over standard OpenOffice.org, and better Excel support and VBA macro support.

NetworkManager 0.7

NetworkManager has been vastly improved since 10.3, and now includes support for multiple network interfaces and UTMS and EV-DO cards.

Under the Hood

• Linux kernel 2.6.25
• glibc 2.8
• GCC 4.3

Media and Download

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openSUSE is now available for immediate download. The openSUSE 11.0 release brings several new options for installation media, as well as familiar choices:

• openSUSE 11.0 DVD 32-bit
• openSUSE 11.0 DVD 64-bit
• openSUSE 11.0 KDE 4 32-bit Live CD
• openSUSE 11.0 GNOME 32-bit Live CD
• openSUSE 11.0 KDE 4 64-bit Live CD
• openSUSE 11.0 GNOME 64-bit Live CD

You can download openSUSE 11.0 via HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent, and Metalink from software.openSUSE.org.

You can also purchase a retail box with openSUSE 11.0 that includes 90-day installation support, physical media, and a printed Getting Started guide.

Communicate

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We want to hear from you! The openSUSE Project has many channels of communication:

• Official openSUSE Forums: forums.opensuse.org.
• Mailing Lists: The openSUSE mailing lists.
• IRC: #opensuse on irc.freenode.net and 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.

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!

All of the contributors who have worked on openSUSE deserve a huge thank you. Without your hard work, this release would not have been possible. openSUSE 11.0 is the best openSUSE release yet, and will help promote the use of Linux everywhere! Now, get openSUSE 11.0 and have a lot of fun!

Good things come to those who wait: I think we’ve waited long enough to release the first openSUSE-Education version for openSUSE 10.3.

Just use the YaST2 “Add-On Product” module to add our Online-Repository. A more detailed description can be found at the openSUSE wiki.

For those without permanent Internet connection, we’ve created a DVD ISO which can be downloaded here:

ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/education/openSUSE-Education-1.0-for-10.3.iso (3,7GB)

To give new users a hint how to install the DVD, we’ve created PDFs in english, german and italian language containing all needed information and in addition some descriptions for LTSP, GCompris, iTalc and Tuxpaint. We want to reuse existing wiki articles for this in 11.0 and add these descriptions also to the Helpcenter. The PDFs are also available in the documentation directory of the DVD.

(more…)

The openSUSE Project has released the first release candidate of the openSUSE Build Service 1.0. With the release candidate, all the features are now in place to support external collaboration with the community to build openSUSE in the open. Developers can now submit contributions to openSUSE directly at build.opensuse.org.

The openSUSE Build Service has offered a simple collaboration system since its inception for groups to work closely together on packages or solutions stacks. The 1.0 RC 1 release improves on existing functionality to allow the Build Service to scale to larger projects like openSUSE’s Factory distribution.

What the changes mean for contributors:

• Anyone can find a package’s working copy as maintained by the official packager or packaging team. Contributors can submit changes against the working copy.

• The submission handling and notification system has been put in place, allowing any contributor to request a merge of their changes to a project.

• Quality assurance happens before contributions are merged. Test builds of a suggested change are accessible to anyone.

• Improved branch handling. It is easy to set up a branch of a package. The branch will build in the same way as the original package, but can be modified.

• Source handling is improved in 1.0. It’s now possible to easily maintain a branch, and modifications are stored without creating a full copy. This makes it easier to maintain features based on the latest copy of package. The Build Service builds the latest packages, including modifications, automatically.

The majority of this functionality is implemented on the server side. The rest can be implemented by the various Build Service clients, so that contributors can take advantage of the new features.

The Build Service team has also introduced a number of smaller improvements and bugfixes to make the system more scalable and usable.

The openSUSE Build Service is now considered “feature complete” for collaboration, but the team is expecting a lot of user feedback since this now is our standard tool for working on the distribution. We will be releasing frequent updates to improve the Build Service based on this feedback. Contributors can discuss the build service on the mailing list and on Freenode in the #opensuse-buildservice channel.

The Banshee team has released version 1.0! This release will be found in openSUSE 11.0, and includes tons of new features and improvements over the previous Banshee releases. This is a ground-up rewrite that improves speed, a redesigned interface, better integration with Last.fm, and video management!

See the entire release announcement on the Banshee homepage, including screenshots and a full list of new and notable features.If you’d like to help spread the news, please use this Digg link to vote it up.

The Banshee team includes openSUSE contributors Aaron Bockover, Gabriel Burt, and James Willcox.