Hello everyone,

The GetGNULinux.org website has move away from the OpenSUSE distribution and now recommends Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Fedora as distributions for GNU/Linux newcomers to make the step with. The main recommendation remains Ubuntu, for its ease of installation and use.

The move away from OpenSUSE has been motivated by the patent agreement signed this November between the Microsoft and Novell (main sponsor of OpenSUSE) corporations; it has been felt that the Samba team call to Novell best represents the views of the contributors to GetGNULinux.org. Namely:
* Novell divides free software users between their customers and others and uses the patent mechanism potentially to the detriment of other GNU/Linux communities
* Using patents as competitive tools in the software world is unethical and goes against the principles of Free Software.
Unfortunately recent speeches by Microsoft officials has shown that they are unwilling to quit a marketing strategy based on spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt, and this gives us little reason to trust that their move will benefit the Free Software world as a whole.

While there can be many different interpretations of the event, it was thought best to restrain from recommending the OpenSUSE distribution, and Fedora Core appeared as candidate of choice, especially given the strong stands taken by its sponsor, Red Hat. We added Kubuntu as an alternative to Gnome-based distributions.

I hope that this move will be accepted by all, as well as the long time that was necessary to switch the website.

Thank you,
Olivier.