SUSE

SUSE is a German multinational software company that develops and maintains a range of open-source software, most prominently the SUSE Linux distributions. The name SUSE is commonly understood as Software und System-Entwicklung. The company is known for openSUSE, a community-driven Linux distribution, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), an enterprise-grade distribution used in business and data-center environments.

Founded in 1992 in Nuremberg by Hubert Mantel, Roland Dyroff, Burchard Steinbild, and Jochen Hein, SUSE became a major player in the European Linux scene. It gained broader visibility after its acquisition by Novell in 2003. The openSUSE project was launched in 2005 to provide a community edition alongside the enterprise-focused SUSE offerings. Over the years, SUSE has operated under various corporate groups and, as of the late 2010s and early 2020s, has been owned by private equity firms with a strategy centered on open-source software and cloud-native technologies.

Key products and technologies include SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for servers and data centers, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) for desktop workstations, and the community editions openSUSE Leap (regular releases) and openSUSE Tumbleweed (rolling release). Core tools associated with SUSE include YaST, a comprehensive installation and configuration tool, and Zypper, a command-line package manager. The company has also developed SUSE Manager for systems management and SUSE Rancher for Kubernetes distribution and management.

SUSE participates in the broader open-source ecosystem, offering solutions for on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, and maintaining a global support network through partners and affiliates.