SUSE Requests openSUSE to Rebrand
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.
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.
FOSS Force:
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OMG! SUSE Wants to Take the 'SUSE' Out of openSUSE? - FOSS Force
You might have seen discussions about this on the internet already, that the big bad suits up in the C-suite at SUSE have laid down the law and demanded that the volunteers at the openSUSE Project need to remove the SUSE brand from their trademark and call the community distro open-anything-but-SUSE. If they don’t want to do that, they were allegedly told, then they might loose the considerable amount of support that the project had been receiving from SUSE.
That seems to have a lot of ordinary folks like you and me stomping their feet and muttering “how dare they” under their breath.
The trouble is, like a lot of things that are being discussed on the internet, the story isn’t true. This didn’t happen — at least not as it’s being told by some.
Also, like a lot of misinformation on the internet, it’s not completely made-up. It’s a misunderstanding of an ongoing discussion that is happening in and around Luxembourg, which is where SUSE has been headquartered since April. The truth is, there have been discussions about dropping the syllable “SUSE” from openSUSE — or maybe a completely new renaming that drops both syllables.
LWN:
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SUSE asks openSUSE to consider name change
SUSE has, in a somewhat clumsy fashion, asked openSUSE to consider rebranding to clear up confusion over the relationship between SUSE the company and openSUSE as a community project. That, in turn, has opened conversations about revising openSUSE governance and more. So far, there is no concrete proposal to consider, no timeline, or even a process for the community and company to follow to make any decisions.
The openSUSE name came about after Novell acquired SUSE, and then renamed SUSE Linux to openSUSE in 2006, at the same time it introduced SUSE Linux Enterprise products. The openSUSE project followed with a board appointed by SUSE in 2007. Since the inception of the openSUSE board, its chair has been appointed by the corporate entity behind SUSE, which has changed several times along the way, with the other seats elected by members of the openSUSE project. The project has always been "sponsored by" the corporate entity without a independent organization of its own to hold trademarks, manage infrastructure, or to accept donations and sponsorships.
On July 7, openSUSE board member Shawn Dunn started a discussion on the project mailing list with a request from SUSE to consider rebranding the project. This was a follow-up to a talk given at the openSUSE Conference 2024 making the case that it was time to pursue a new name for the project.
The openSUSE project has had a few occasions to ponder its relationship with the SUSE mothership of late. The openSUSE board has discussed an independent foundation and governance in the past, but that has not yielded results. Project member Patrick Fitzgerald founded a separate Geeko Foundation as a UK not-for-profit to handle money for openSUSE-specific activities. In 2023, the project had a contest to select new logos that caused a ruckus in the community. The project also faced uncertainty about the future of openSUSE Leap due to SUSE's plans for a new "Adaptable Linux Platform" (ALP). An announcement in January indicates that Leap will go forward, but the episode underscores the unequal relationship between SUSE and openSUSE.