SuSE (pronounced soose, or susie) is one of the major packaged
Linux distributions and is produced in
Germany. As of release 8.2 they offer a helpful installation program (YaST2), administration
GUIs such as
KDE 3.1 and
GNOME, online updates and more. It comes in 2 distributions, a Personal (3 CDs) and a Professional (5
CDs and 2
DVDs). There is more server-type software in the Professional version. SuSE is sold through computer software retail stores, book stores, and online like many other Linux distributions.
Unlike many other Linux distributions, it is not possible to produce and sell cheaper versions of the SuSE CDs, due to license restrictions on the installation tools. They may be copied at no charge, however.
The name "SuSE" is an acronym of the German term "Software und Systementwicklung", meaning software and system development.