Rumour: Canonical Interested in Buying OpenSUSE

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2010-08-04 00:45:49 UTC
Modified: 2010-08-04 00:45:49 UTC

Summary: Canonical employee is claimed to have blurted out something about Canonical buying OpenSUSE from Novell

A SOURCE of ours, who claims to have spoken with a Canonical developer, said that Canonical might be considering an OpenSUSE acquisition (Novell is still up for sale, and selling in pieces is a possibility). This rumour did get some responses but no other source has yet been able to verify. Has anybody else heard something similar? Mark Shuttleworth was looking to hire SUSE developers about four years ago.

Either way, Novell recently hired KDE's Jos Poortvliet to manage OpenSUSE's community and Poortvliet already lays out a KDE strategy for OpenSUSE. From his good blog:

I'd be willing to write such a proposal (yes, short notice, I know) if ppl think we should have it. I'm NOT saying here that that's the direction we, as in openSUSE, should choose - personally I like the poweruser proposal as well as the developer proposal. Oh and the cloudy one as well... Besides, I've been involved only so short, my vote doesn't count as I'm not even an openSUSE Member right now. So the openSUSE community should vote - not me. I'm just here to help!

Novell has also just hired another developer for SUSE. From the blog:

I guess most people who discussed with me there knew already and Michael already let the cat out of the bag: I've joined Novell, to work on SUSE MeeGo.

There are some other new posts about OpenSUSE. One says that Fedora is losing to OpenSUSE and another offers "quick impressions" of OpenSUSE 11.3:

About two weeks ago, the openSUSE Project released version 11.3 of its popular Linux distribution, and after putting it off for quite a while, I decided to give the latest version a download and see what SUSE has been up to. After all, the last time I took a serious look at SUSE (over four years ago!), it still went by "SuSE"... yes, it's been quite a while. So far, my initial impressions of the latest version are quite good.

Novell claims to have made its SUSE business profitable a couple of quarters ago. Is it true that it considers selling it now? We hope that someone else has heard something through the grapevine. Novell is super-silent these days as it quietly negotiates with bidders. ⬆

Comments

woods

2010-08-04 04:28:37

That _would_ be interesting.

With regards to individual components, it would leave Canonical holding both of the largest users of AppArmor, whereas Redhat would be left with the largest two (RHEL(CentOS)/Fedora) using SELinux.

(AppArmor is going into kernel 2.6.36 thanks to Canonical's contributions (seems like they picked up the ball after Novell))

(Also Canonical would then be holding two Mono-friendly distros)
Will

2010-08-04 07:51:05

Still, could be a good thing. If Canonical bought openSUSE, that could give Kubuntu a much needed shot in the arm to turn it into a first class citizen within the company and perhaps the best KDE distro around, and it would also allow the work of openSUSE to distance itself from the Novell deal and Novell in general.
dyfet

2010-08-04 09:06:12

One intriguing aspect of Suse is that it is perhaps is the one RPM based distro that most closely follows packaging policies, practices, and naming conventions of Debian. For one example, they version package names and use naming conventions as per Debian for shared libraries.

However, a kde based distro in the Canonical stable? I think it would upset too many kubuntu apple-carts, as it is said the kubuntu folks have felt somewhat neglected all these years. But that is simply a flash opinion. In any case, I think this is purely a wild-eyed rumor only.

European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Czech Mate: EPO Kingmaker or Merely a Pawn in the Game?: recent "missions" of the EPO President
SLAPP Censorship - Part 131 Out of 200: A Big Win for the Media in the United Kingdom (UK) Today: In a democratic society the Right to Know, which is closely connected to freedom of the press (or what one might label "blogging" or "blag"), comes above all else, except where there are lives being put at risk
IBM's Fedora Plans to Integrate Slop Into "Fedora Workstation as a Default Feature.": IBM does not care whether the community wants this or not
The Media Talks a Lot About XBox Layoffs, a Closer Look at the Data Shows Microsoft 'Bloodbath': 'Bloodbath' is the term insiders use
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 07, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, July 07, 2026
Links 07/07/2026: Microsoft Cuts Doom "id Software" and Turkey Detains Journalists: Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/07/2026: Old Computer Challenge (OCC) and Hardware Tests: Links for the day
A Break From the Routine: What matters is what whistleblowers keep feeding information to us
SLAPP Censorship - Part 132 Out of 200: When You Cannot Pay a Million Pounds (1,335,520.00 United States Dollar) to Lawyers But Have a Strong Community: Techrights compensates for its fiscal poverty with a wealth of community spirit
Fame is Not the Goal: "Fame" kills
Mental Health in Free Software Communities: clearly there is a subject that merits debate and it ought not be a taboo anymore
The Era of Sponsored Spam: There is no "era of AI", there is era of BRIBES to PRETEND there is an "era of AI"
Gemini Links 07/07/2026: Cleaning, Old Computer, and More: Links for the day
Links 07/07/2026: Le Monde Combats LLM Slop Plagiarism, "ACLU Launches Largest Ever Midterm Electoral Program": Links for the day
Extremism in the Free Software World is Mostly a Myth: Only the firm belief that justice applies to all will produce a just society
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 06, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, July 06, 2026
Links 07/07/2026: Kernelized Secure Operating System (KSOS) and "Exploiting Thoughtcrime in LLMs": Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 130 Out of 200: Jealousy, Envy, Hubris: This site is primarily about Free software
Gemini Links 06/07/2026: Still Mostly Dry, GoToSocial, and More: Links for the day
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Effective Dispute Resolution… But Not For EPO Staff: Slovenia fielded one of the few Administrative Council delegations which managed to maintain its own independent line against the tyrannical EPOnian "Sun King"
Community Sites Need Genuine Collaboration and True Autonomy: People who want to communicate, federate and organise for effective change need to evolve
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Covers Quibble, Free Software for Secure Communications, in the FSF Summer Bulletin: The Georgia Tech folks are bringing Free software education and contributions to one of the better known Computer Science hubs in the US
Microsoft Layoffs Include Windows, Bing, Slop (CoPilot etc.) and There Will More More Rounds (or Waves) to Come: "43% of Xbox laid off"
Obscene Contradiction in Microsoft's Layoffs Tally ("Official" Numbers Do Not Add Up): Notice how they treat "LinkedIn" as separate
Preserving Comments About the Real IBM Before They Get Deleted: IBM in the 1980s is not what it is right now
Cybershow on "Escaping Prisons For Your Mind": "THE CYBER SHOW: Stealing technofascism's boots, and stomping on its own face with them."
Links 06/07/2026: At Least 20% Staff Reduction in XBox (Microsoft), Taiwan Sees Uptick in Chinese Aggression/Provocation, Senator Rodante Marcoleta Arrested: Links for the day
Confirmed: Microsoft Layoffs Come in Two Waves, Just Like Last Summer: To us, what stands out is the admission from Microsoft that there are two (or more) waves
In Praise of the UK's Stance on Free Speech (but Some Reservations): At the moment there is a healthy discussion going on with the objective of disrupting attacks on British press
Exposing Corruption at the European Patent Office (EPO), a Call for More Whistleblowers: We predict that, provided enough whistleblowers speak out, António "the unready" won't even finish his current term
Leaving Our Pets for Several Days: This week our pets will be worried that "mommy and daddy" are away
Dating Trees and Dating 'Apps': several high-profile stories in the news about scandals in "dating apps"
DW Documentary About Julian Assange Turns 2: It was released just days after Assange had turned 53 and about two weeks after he had left the UK
Independent Media is the Only Form of Legitimate Media: Independent media is, indeed, what we need to demand more of
The Story of the European Patent Office (EPO) Wagging the Dog (EU): The aim of the series is to properly inform the world - not just Europeans - how Europe's second-largest institution is run [...] How did a corporate hub of monopolies become so detached from the Rule of Law?
GNU/Linux Up to New High in Libya, Windows Down to All-Time Low: GNU/Linux touches 5% there, based on statCounter
Links 06/07/2026: Artists Reject Slop (or Even de Facto Bribes to Market/Endorse Slop): Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 129 Out of 200: Iranian Tactics: Hunger for revenge compels people to do overzealous, irrational things
Quiet Week: Many in the US are still enjoying an extended weekend
The Media Needs to Speak of Slop as a Climate Issue Like It Did With Bitcoin: But the slop industry keeps paying the media to play along with the hype
IBM's Fall: IBM's fate is closely connected to that of the Free software movement because of the salaries
Social Dialogue at the European Patent Office (EPO) is Dead, the Strikes and Work Stoppage-Like Actions Carry on: What next for the EPO?
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 05, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, July 05, 2026
Links 05/07/2026: Shadows of the Upper Peninsula and 2026 Old Computer Challenge: Links for the day

Rumour: Canonical Interested in Buying OpenSUSE

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts