Novell to Set SUSE Linux 10.0 Loose in October

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Linux distributor Novell said last week that it will be ready to ship its SUSE Linux 10.0 commercial PC and workstation software in early October. Just like Red Hat uses its Fedora Core implementation of desktop Linux to test new features, SUSE and then Novell has used SUSE Linux Professional to test the things that will go into future server products. SUSE Linux 10.0 is the latest incarnation of this cutting-edge product line.

The new bleeding edge Linux from Novell is, of course, openSUSE, which is the open development version of what used to be called SUSE Linux Professional and what is now called just SUSE Linux when it goes into production. The openSUSE release is really beta code, while SUSE Linux 10.0 is a frozen snapshot of the beta code that has been tweaked and prepared for commercial release. Prior to the establishment of the openSUSE project by Novell in the middle of August, outside beta testers and commercial customers could give Novell some ideas about what features they might want or feedback on bugs, but they could not actually participate in the development process. With the SUSE Linux 10.0 code base, which was code-named "Prague" internally at Novell, openSUSE community members in the past six weeks have been making code changes and doing bug fixes, and they will continue to do so until SUSE Linux 10.0 goes to market in early October. This is the first time Novell has opened up its development processes to outsiders, and the transformation of its Linux from internal to the external openSUSE community is still under way.

While SUSE Linux 10.0 is billed as the version of Linux that Novell peddles for desktops and workstations, it can certainly be used to support modestly powerful Web, infrastructure, and application server workloads, too. And because it is inexpensive compared to server releases, desktop Linux variants like SUSE Linux 10.0 are often used in Linux-based supercomputer clusters where companies and supercomputer centers are just looking for a supported Linux kernel and some key extensions like MPI clustering.

According to the updated roadmap, SUSE Linux 10.0 Release Candidate 1 will ship on September 9, and the commercial version of the product will come out on October 6. The software has had a weekly beta throughout the month of August. Novell was undoubtedly pretty close to having SUSE Linux 10.0 completed before it launched the openSUSE project. On September 28, the openSUSE community will start working on the code that will eventually work its way into SUSE Linux 10.1. Exactly what will be in there remains to be seen.

SUSE Linux 10.0 includes Novell's AppArmor security, the open source Xen hypervisor for PC and server virtualization, and updates to the Mono and Eclipse development tools. The software will also include file and print servers with iFolder 3.0 support software that Novell just launched with Open Enterprise Server Service Pack 1 a few weeks ago. iFolders are virtual storage areas for user data, which can be shared with other users. Xen and iFolder are expected to be key components of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10.0 when it ships next year. SUSE Linux 10.0 will include the latest snapshots of the Firefox Web browser, the Beagle desktop search, the Amarok MP3 player, and the OpenOffice.org office automation suite as well. A total of 1,500 applications are bundled in with the distro.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about SUSE Linux 10.0 will be its price: 59 Euros in Europe and $59 in the United States, which represents a 44 percent price cut over the current SUSE Linux Professional 9.3. The retail editions of Novell's PC and workstation Linux come with manuals and 90 days of installation support.

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