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Leap or Tumbleweed⚓︎

On the download site you'll find the two distribution choices: Leap and Tumbleweed. Both are openSUSE operating systems but they are targeted for different uses/users.

openSUSE Leap⚓︎

This is recommended distribution if you are a new user or you want a stable/production system. It is easy to use and will run with little maintenance or problems.

During the lifetime of your install of openSUSE Leap version, you will receive security updates for all included packages as well as critical bug fixes.

A new minor release (15.0, 15.1, 15.2, etc.) is expected approximately every 12 months aligned with SUSE Linux Enterprise Service Pack (The commercial big brother of openSUSE).

A major release (15.0, 16.0, etc.) is expected approximately 36 to 48 months from the initial major release. This is also aligned with SUSE Linux Enterprise Releases

With Leap you have to explicitly instruct the operating system to upgrade to the latest minor or major releases. This will give you the opportunity to upgrade when you are ready and you have a proper tested back up.

openSUSE Tumbleweed⚓︎

This distribution is for the experienced Linux User. It is a rolling release that is constantly updated and always at the 'latest release'. Every update you perform will be a complete system upgrade.

It receives security updates, bug fixes and new features (most often as new software versions) as soon as they are integrated and tested by the openSUSE community. Critical security updates for packages may also be provided in situations where new software versions may not yet address major security issues.

Due to it's nature of being on the cutting edge, Tumbleweed updates tend to be frequent and big in size. If you have limited network connectivity Tumbleweed might be challenging to maintain.

Although the allure of having the latest software releases may be attractive to you, be sure to understand that using and maintaining Tumbleweed requires using the command line (for example regular system updates) and that sometimes upgrades cause problems that might frustrate you if you're not an experienced Linux user.

Don't let this detract you from using Tumbleweed in any way, If you are an experienced user with CLI knowledge and prefer the cutting edge of a rolling release, you will love Tumbleweed. It's well tested, stable and it's problems are minimal.

References⚓︎


Last update: 2020-12-04