We're Ready For The Release, Are You?!

Dear Geekos!

We’re sure you are all anxiously awaiting the release of openSUSE 13.1, coming in 24 hours. Yes, just around the corner! So we want to remind you that you can help us promote the release, plan release parties and of course read the many articles we’ve written! So much to do both before and after the release…

Before the release

There is still preparation to do: a lot to read about the release -so you can tell your friends about it- and some work in order to promote the release. You are very welcome in helping us to spread the word in your blog and other places!

Learn about the release

As a preparation for the release we wrote bunch of sneak peaks so you can learn about what is so cool in new openSUSE. Let’s start from the most visible parts - as always we have new versions of desktops environments. We write articles about both major ones - GNOME and KDE. Changes in these two are probably the most visible to the end user. We hope exactly the opposite happening with YaST. There were really big changes under the hood of YaST this release as we wrote. The interface and functionality are both the same, so users will barely notice, but we hope an horde of new developers attracted by the new code.

We also wrote about more hardcore/geeky stuff. “Cloud” is still a magical and cool word and we have everything you need to create your own cloud in openSUSE. Check out what is new in this area! And as this is more sysadmins cup of tea, let’s mention yet another article that we prepared. This one is full of useful tips and tricks. Even if you are skilled sysadmin, you might learn a thing or two there that will make your everyday life easier.

And last but not least, don’t forget about all the love and attention that have been put into Btrfs. Even whether is not the default option for new installations, openSUSE 13.1 looks like the best choice for everybody wanting to try this next generation filesystem.

Promote the release

You might have seen that we created some cool materials to promote the release. There are banners, backgrounds for social media accounts and more in this article and we have this cool “Release Geeko” background for you:

[caption id=”attachment_17346” width=”650” align=”aligncenter”] Release Geeko background[/caption]

Find more related artwork in our github repository.

During the release day

For the release itself, we created both Facebook event and G+ event to be sure that no one forgets (like if it is possible to forget the release date of your favorite Linux distribution). But more important, there will be public hangout on G+ as part of the G+ event, so you can join and share your excitement about the new release. Apart from that, we will be updating all our social channels all day long, so don’t worry, you will not miss anything… and you are also welcome to help in these tasks.

After the release

In the party department, there have been people planning launch parties already. At the moment of writing, we are already aware of parties in:

• Orlando FL, just a couple of days ago

• Nuremberg, punctually at the release day

• Copenhagen, the day after

• SUSE offices in Prague, next week

• Zacatecas, during Free Software Lab-COZCyT

• Taipei, in the near future (stay tuned, more information coming)

If you would like to attend a launch party in your neighborhood, check the Launch Party wiki and if there’s no party yet, read this article with some tips on solving that problem ;-)

We hope you are now a little more prepared for the release. And, of course, not forget to…

have a lot of fun!