SuSE
SuSE (properly pronounced Zoo-suh, but typically pronounced soose, or susie) is one of the major Linux distributions and is produced in Germany. SuSE is also the founding member of the Desktop Linux Consortium.
SuSE is sold through computer software retail stores, book stores, and online like many other Linux distributions. SuSE also comes in two different flavors. The Personal edition (contained on 3 CDs) is geared toward the home user, and the Professional edition (5 CDs and 2 DVDs) is geared toward the corporate/professional user. The major differences of the Professional version over the Personal version are additional networking and client software.
As of release 9, SuSE offers a helpful installation program (YaST2), administration GUIs such as KDE 3.1.4 and GNOME 2.2, online updates, and more. SuSE 9 includes support for resizing NTFS partitions during installation. This allows for SuSE Linux to co-exist with existing Windows 2000 or XP systems. Another addition is the ability to detect and install drivers for many of the common winmodems shipped with OEM desktop and laptop systems.
Unlike many other Linux distributions, it is not possible to produce and sell cheaper versions of the SuSE CDs, due to non-GPL license restrictions on YAST, SuSE's propietary installation and configuration tool. See [1] for detailed information about what you can and cannot do with YAST.
The name "SuSE" is an acronym of the German term "Software und Systementwicklung," meaning "software and system development."
On November 4, 2003, Novell announced it would acquire SuSE Linux (Shankland, 2003). The acquisition was expected to be finalized in January 2004 (Kennedy, 2003). According to Ramesh (2004), J. Philips (Novell's corporate technology strategist for the Asia Pacific region) stated that Novell would not "in the medium term" alter the way in which SuSE continues to be developed.
