I've been switching between Windows and Linux for a while, and I'm considering whether a rolling release like OpenSUSE Tumbleweed might suit my needs. I've tried Arch Linux, but it just isn't my style, and I want a reliable desktop experience without the risk of things breaking on me. Can anyone share what it's really like to use Tumbleweed? What's the package manager like, and what commands should I familiarize myself with? I believe YaST is the package manager? I'm eager to learn about this distro, so any insights you have would be greatly appreciated! Love you all! 😘
3 Answers
You should be just fine with openSUSE. Tumbleweed is quite stable for a rolling release; it usually doesn't present many issues. However, if you're worried about stability, you might want to consider Slowroll, which is a similar distro but lags behind by a week or two to offer a bit more stability. Also, openSUSE uses Btrfs and Snapper by default, so you can roll back your system to an earlier snapshot if something goes wrong. YaST is a fantastic GUI tool for setting things up, making it feel like the terminal isn’t necessary.
Using Tumbleweed is pretty straightforward; it’s just another Linux flavor. You'll find that it operates similarly to other distros. As for package management, openSUSE primarily uses Zypper, RPM, and YaST, which has a GUI interface. I recommend checking out the openSUSE documentation for Zypper & RPM to get a handle on the commands you'll likely use. You can find that info [here](https://doc.opensuse.org/documentation/leap/reference/html/book-reference/cha-sw-cl.html), and YaST details can be found [here](https://yast.opensuse.org/documentation).
Thanks for the resources! I’ll definitely look them up.
For a bit of guidance, check out the distro selection page in the wiki for tips! And remember to always take backups, experiment in a VM, and double-check commands before executing them. It’s a good practice to avoid mishaps!
Great tip about Snapper! That sounds like a lifesaver.