OpenSUSE Completely Free?

[arakavaz]

I was having a discussion with a good friend earlier today and he was bragging to me about how great Linux Mint is and why I should switch over. When I told him I was using OpenSUSE, he laughed at me and said it wasn't completely free because apparently it makes you pay for the more high-end software.

Does OpenSUSE really charge you for certain things like my friend said?

[microchip8]

your friend is lying. openSUSE does *not* make you pay for anything high-end related. It's a free community project and you can use all its services and packages for free. Please educate your friend and make him stop spreading lies and bullcr@p around. He needs to get a clue

if he's talking about SLES or SLED, than that's something different. It's similar to RHEL which of course costs $$$

[ab@novell.com]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

- From the homepage.... the very first page... www.opensuse.org

<quote>
openSUSE is a free and Linux-based operating system for your PC, Laptop or
Server. You can surf the web, manage your e-mails and photos, do office
work, play videos or music and have a lot of fun!
</quote>

A fool and his money are soon parted. Go ask your friend for money.

Good luck.





microchip8 wrote:
> your friend is lying. openSUSE does *not* make you pay for anything
> high-end related. It's a *free community project*. Please educate your
> friend and make him stop spreading bullcr@p around
>
>
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[chris_green]

Your friend could have been getting his wires crossed with SLED which is the enterprise incarnation of openSUSE.

your friend is completely wrong.

openSUSE is completely free...*all* software is completely free, yes
even the "high end" software is completely free..

another SUSE, related to openSUSE but NOT exactly the same as it is
more 'refined' bug-smashed and *focused* on business/enterprise
settings (and named SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) and SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)) are also completely free to download
from its producer's site <http://www.novell.com/linux/> and use..

though the software is completely free, Novell does provide full
support (and updates, security patches, etc for LONG TERM enterprise
needs) after the first 60 days for an annual fee..

you may use SLED/SLES at no cost--but unless you take the steps to
manually keep it updated, it will not be..

--
goldie

[oldcpu]

arakavaz, what might help is to brush up on some basic openSUSE concepts: Concepts - openSUSE

In particular what might help is to review what it has to say about openSUSE being free: Free Software Philosophy - openSUSE

Note that Non-free software is also called proprietary software.

Also note that free software should not be confused with freeware, freeware is free as in "free beer", but not as in freedom.

Free software is defined by the offering of 4 basic freedoms.

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

It is true that there are commercial software packages for Linux and indeed for openSUSE. But generally speaking, for the average user, "free software" , per the definition of free software above is adequate.

There is also a lot of free proprietary software that can be used on openSUSE as well.

The odds of a nominal desktop/home user having to purchase commercial software is reasonably small.