Hello! :)
I've been a long time away from the "RPM Family" and using the "Debian Family" of Linux Distributions. I wish to change that and "re-discover" the first, as when joining the words "Linux" and "Enterprise" (if one day I hope to use Linux at some future job/work and not only at home just because I like it better than any other O.S.) only two company names really come to mind: Red Hat and Novell. And their Linux are RPM-Based.
When "googleing" for "fedora opensuse" (whitout the quotes), it's clear on many forums and blogs that openSUSE fits better my needs and is even viewed more favorably by most users than Fedora. Among other things, its primary focus on KDE would be good to throw me away from my "GTK+ Comfort Zone" and it's claimed by many to fit well both the roles of a Desktop and a Server environment.
But when searching "Novell" and "Red Hat", I've found some concerning posts/blog entries about the first "losing ground" on the Enterprise market to the second.
I don't know if that's true, because all of this was based purely on google search. But it raised me some concerns that I would like to address here at the Forums before formally trying openSUSE for the first time (and maybe in some months help on any way, even if only beta testing future packages because I'm already a bit experienced with Linux):
- What is the relation between SUSE and openSUSE compared to Red Hat and Fedora? What are the main differences?
- Is there any data that points to the contrary, that SUSE is actually stable or growing and not losing Enterprise market to Red Hat? (Globally speaking of course and not only considering Europe and/or US)
- Last but not least, what would happen to openSUSE if Novell one day would just close its doors? Is it's user and developer base large enough to continue the project independently of sponsorship?
Thanks in advance for any answers. And remember that the points that I've raised here are based solely on google search and not on any "real" data that I could bring or point out.
Best Regards.
I've been a long time away from the "RPM Family" and using the "Debian Family" of Linux Distributions. I wish to change that and "re-discover" the first, as when joining the words "Linux" and "Enterprise" (if one day I hope to use Linux at some future job/work and not only at home just because I like it better than any other O.S.) only two company names really come to mind: Red Hat and Novell. And their Linux are RPM-Based.
When "googleing" for "fedora opensuse" (whitout the quotes), it's clear on many forums and blogs that openSUSE fits better my needs and is even viewed more favorably by most users than Fedora. Among other things, its primary focus on KDE would be good to throw me away from my "GTK+ Comfort Zone" and it's claimed by many to fit well both the roles of a Desktop and a Server environment.
But when searching "Novell" and "Red Hat", I've found some concerning posts/blog entries about the first "losing ground" on the Enterprise market to the second.
I don't know if that's true, because all of this was based purely on google search. But it raised me some concerns that I would like to address here at the Forums before formally trying openSUSE for the first time (and maybe in some months help on any way, even if only beta testing future packages because I'm already a bit experienced with Linux):
- What is the relation between SUSE and openSUSE compared to Red Hat and Fedora? What are the main differences?
- Is there any data that points to the contrary, that SUSE is actually stable or growing and not losing Enterprise market to Red Hat? (Globally speaking of course and not only considering Europe and/or US)
- Last but not least, what would happen to openSUSE if Novell one day would just close its doors? Is it's user and developer base large enough to continue the project independently of sponsorship?
Thanks in advance for any answers. And remember that the points that I've raised here are based solely on google search and not on any "real" data that I could bring or point out.
Best Regards.