If you have been keeping up with the latest Linux news, you may have heard that openSUSE recently made a new release a couple days ago. This release, 42.1, is based on SUSE Linux Enterprise, which is an interesting change, as openSUSE, while supported by the same company as SUSE, has always been independent-ish.
Some of the biggest changes in 42.1 are updated desktop environments (yay!) 42.1 provides Gnome 3.16 and KDE Plasma 5.4. Both of these have significant usability and appearance improvements over the versions used in 13.2 and the current releases of Newt OS.
So, how will this affect Newt OS?
Most obviously, this change means updates to major system components, including the Linux kernel, which is updated to version 4.1 LTS, as well as updated desktop environments, display managers, etc. What won't change is my desire to make a user-friendly Linux distro based on openSUSE with the aim of providing a more focused project. The included software will not change significantly. There may be changes, additions, or removals, but when the day is over, Newt OS will still be Newt OS.
With this release, I am setting myself some goals for Newt OS. First, I want to become more familiar with the openSUSE Build Service. I also want to make the three versions of Newt OS feel more similar; as it is, there are many inconsistencies with software selection, theme choices, wallpapers, etc. I want to remove these differences, so there is only a choice of preferred desktop environment, and no difference in content.
As for release dates, I really have no target other than preferably by early December. School keeps me busy during the week, and I am having some issues with migrating to 42.1 in a few cases. Those of you running Newt OS should be able to update your systems to 42.1 base like you would update a generic openSUSE install, but settings may not be kept. 13.2 is supported until late 2016 at least, so don't worry about losing support.
What do you want to see in Newt OS's future? Have you tried Linux and found something difficult that you think Newt OS could resolve? Let me know in the comments.
~Newt
Some of the biggest changes in 42.1 are updated desktop environments (yay!) 42.1 provides Gnome 3.16 and KDE Plasma 5.4. Both of these have significant usability and appearance improvements over the versions used in 13.2 and the current releases of Newt OS.
So, how will this affect Newt OS?
Most obviously, this change means updates to major system components, including the Linux kernel, which is updated to version 4.1 LTS, as well as updated desktop environments, display managers, etc. What won't change is my desire to make a user-friendly Linux distro based on openSUSE with the aim of providing a more focused project. The included software will not change significantly. There may be changes, additions, or removals, but when the day is over, Newt OS will still be Newt OS.
With this release, I am setting myself some goals for Newt OS. First, I want to become more familiar with the openSUSE Build Service. I also want to make the three versions of Newt OS feel more similar; as it is, there are many inconsistencies with software selection, theme choices, wallpapers, etc. I want to remove these differences, so there is only a choice of preferred desktop environment, and no difference in content.
As for release dates, I really have no target other than preferably by early December. School keeps me busy during the week, and I am having some issues with migrating to 42.1 in a few cases. Those of you running Newt OS should be able to update your systems to 42.1 base like you would update a generic openSUSE install, but settings may not be kept. 13.2 is supported until late 2016 at least, so don't worry about losing support.
What do you want to see in Newt OS's future? Have you tried Linux and found something difficult that you think Newt OS could resolve? Let me know in the comments.
~Newt