Matt and Devin's guide to Desktop Operating Systems
SUSE was originally started by a German software company - the Software and Systems Development Corporation. SUSE's name was originally an acronym for "Software- und System-Entwicklung" (Software and Systems Development). While SUSE was not originally its own Linux distribution, it was an extension to a distro called Slackware.
Now, SUSE is developed by both community efforts (openSUSE) and by corporate efforts (SUSE and SLES). These distributions share code with each other and are largely similar in use. The main differences are that SUSE and SLES are focused on enterprise desktop and server roles while openSUSE is focused on non-enterprise desktop and server roles. As such, certain enterprise-only features available to SUSE are not available in openSUSE. One of SLES's big claims to fame is its legendary hot-patching system in which the kernel can be patched without the need to reboot. While other distributions support this, SLES has been doing this longer than most distributions and has smoothed out most of the issues that can occur with this process. They are so confident in their hot-patching system, they made this video as an advertisement for it. This means SLES systems can be updated and kept safe with little to no downtime! Perfect for critical apps and services.
SUSE and SLES are for enterprise users. Businesses who need minimal downtime and high security use SLES. Businesses who need enterprise Linux workstations use SUSE. Its tools allow for easy remote management and support for IT and its legendary stability helps keep users happy and systems running.
openSUSE is for users who want an experience like SUSE but can't or don't want to pay for the enterprise support that comes with it. openSUSE is guided by a board of volunteers who contribute to the openSUSE project. These volunteers are elected by the community and work to make openSUSE the best it can be. It comes in a rolling-release version and a periodic release version, both of which are well-tested for stability and security.
