Believe it or not, an unexpected conflict has arisen in the openSUSE community with its long-time supporter and namesake, the SUSE company.
At the heart of this tension lies a quiet request that has stirred not-so-quiet ripples across the open source landscape: SUSE has formally asked openSUSE to discontinue using its brand name.
Richard Brown, a key figure within the openSUSE project, shared insights into the discussions that have unfolded behind closed doors.
Despite SUSE’s request’s calm and respectful tone, the implications of not meeting it could be far-reaching, threatening the symbiotic relationship that has benefited both entities over the years.
Oh wow. SUSE family of distribution is relatively small footprint. Whole story sounds like "splitting the hair". The only reasonable explanation is that SUSE hired some self-glorified marketer from big corp. omg...
That must be annoying just after OpenSUSE went through a branding redesign process. I guess they'll have to give up the gecko logo since SUSE also uses it?
And there's more at stake than a rebranding it seems. This could signal SUSE withdrawing development support from OpenSUSE:
Let’s face it: SUSE has been more than just a namesake for openSUSE; it has actively provided resources and support far beyond what it would ordinarily need for its business operations.
This generosity has fostered a thriving openSUSE project that has excelled under SUSE’s goodwill and informal support, including contributions made by SUSE employees on company time.
However, the recent request for a branding separation has overshadowed this partnership. If openSUSE does not handle this request with the sensitivity and cooperation it demands, the project risks not just a reduction in support from SUSE but a potential shift in priorities away from it.
The “Factory first” policy, a cornerstone of the engineering synergy between SUSE and openSUSE, could also be scrutinized, emphasizing the gravity of the current situation.
This is a massive miss-play on Suse's part. Essentially all the good will, and recognition I have for Suse is based on OpenSuse. It's the reason many of the places I've worked at now run a Suse product instead of redhat. Seriously, when I think of OpenSuse and Suse as a whole I barely differentiate the toonunlike redhat and fedora. That's likely the reason for the switch but I cannot see how-this does anything but benefit them.
From the article too there are some concerns. Suse is, admittedly, trying to cause opensuse to change direction ans managment to further suit it's buisness at threat of removing support. This is sad to see.
Since I had to deal with some representatives of SUSE corp, I can say that the whole experience was just plain horrible. Don‘t like that company at all and thus am not surprised that the name change topic is even discussed at all.
The openSUSE website obly lists three variants, Leap, Tumbleweed and MicroOS. I don't see the many confusing variabts that are mentioned in the article
Dont do things that aren't necessary. The name is adequate, it performs it's function, its there.
Feels like consumerism, always "innovating" for the sake if being new and flashy.
Oh, wait, SUSE said that? Weird.
I guess if it's a (kind of) must, tho that makes me weary of what's SUSEs plan that they would benefit from this. It can't be just stupid manager stuff, right? :D
That said, I submit open-me-SUSSY for consideration.
I believe most will assume correctly what the general idea for the logo would be, so no need to sketch it.