Of all GNU/Linux distributions, OpenSUSE - specifically, OpenSUSE Leap - is the most practical, reliable, and generally workable. For beginners, OpenSUSE is preferable to Ubuntu, Fedora, or even Linux Mint. Advanced users will fall in love with the stability and robustness of OpenSUSE, as well as the simplicity of usage. And OpenSUSE keeps all of the customization GNU/Linux users love, without the pain of Arch.

Built for btrfs

The btrfs file system is most integrated into OpenSUSE of all GNU/Linux distributions, routinely creating snapshots to protect your system if anything should fail. zypper and snapper work to prevent the types of data loss which Linux Mint and Arch Linux alike can suffer under, and the beginner can load from a read-only snapshot with just a few clicks at startup.

RPM-based

Like Fedora, OpenSUSE is RPM-based. I have had issues with networking on more than one occassion on Debian-based systems, and as a result am somewhat weary of Ubuntu and Linux Mint alike.

Reliable

Being backed by a major corporation, SUSE, the user can expect from his OpenSUSE system a level of stability and quality he cannot from small community or hobbyist projects. Unlike Fedora from RedHat, OpenSUSE Leap is great for both servers and desktops, and is very reliable, with each package being thoroughly tested by SUSE prior to release.

Integrated

The integration of system software is very neatly and well-done by SUSE. Even with the deprecation of YaST, this continues to be true in the age of their replacements, Cockpit and Merlyn. Many other distributions lack this level of integration.

Multiple versions

SUSE’s server OS is the basis for multiple versions of OpenSUSE.

If you really want the latest software, Tumbleweed gives you a rolling release without the instability and precariousness of Arch Linux. Having been a long-term Arch user myself, I really appreciate the peace of mind I have using Leap over Arch, and I’m quite fine with the software release cycle. Slowroll is a compromise between Leap and Tumbleweed.

The immutable distros Leap Micro and MicroOS are great for containers or small installs, though they can also be used as desktop operating systems.

Issues with other distros

Fedora

Fedora, another rpm-based distribution and an upstream product of RedHat, is much less stable. Ever since RedHat shut down CentOS, I have been sceptical of using any of their products. SUSE still maintains compatibility between OpenSUSE Leap and SUSE Enterprise Linux. Finally, having used both Fedora and remote installations of CentOS Stream, I find OpenSUSE is a better ecosystem: RedHat’s products are not have btrfs-native, the dnf package manager is not as high-feature and -quality as zypper, and the RedHat-based distributions lack the powerful configuration tools of Cockpit or Merlyn.

Ubuntu and Debian

I dislike snaps, advertisements, and disagree strongly with Linus Torvalds that Debian is difficult to install. I have never tried Linux Mint, Zorin OS or anything similar, but I once had a Librem 14 with PureOS, which was quite nice.

Debian is not btrfs-native. I have had issues with Debian connecting to the Internet on more than one occasion, and that spooked me away from Debian and its descendants ever since. That being said, if SUSE ever does to Leap what RedHat did to CentOS, I’d probably switch to either Debian, or more likely Trisquel (PureOS is very tied to Purism’s hardware in a way Trisquel isn’t.)

Arch Linux

I used Arch for a while, but I had a few issues with it due to its poor stability vis-a-vis stable release distros or even OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. The AUR is very nice, but adding repos to zypper is pretty trivial, and I have never had to rely on flatpaks or random .rpm packages to install anything on my current system.

NixOS

I used Nixos for a few months, and the reliability and reproducability of NixOS influenced me in selecting OpenSUSE because it had snapper and btrfs features, which pretty much equal the dependability of a NixOS install. I also got sick of not being able to upgrade software in the command-line like I could on every other distributions, and didn’t see a nixfile as that beneficial when one can just can and paste or git clone config files onto a new machine. And the declarative PM could be trying at times, particularly when I couldn’t install ad-ons to Firefox. I didn’t feel I needed to learn an entirely new programming language for the scale at which I operate, which I would need to get the full benefit of the nix package manager. NixOS may make sense in some situations where horizontal scalability is a must, but that isn’t my situation. I may look back at NixOS (or it’s FSF-approved relative, the Guix system distribution) at some point in the future, however.

OpenSUSE Tumbleweed

I wanted a stable release distribution, so I chose Leap. I don’t feel I need the latest software at the expense of being able to send an email to my boss or access this website. Like I mentioned earlier, if Leap is discontinued at some point, I would probably move to a modified Debian system with btrfs for anything where I need to deal with UEFI, otherwise I would migrate to Trisquel GNU/Linux-libre. Then again, another distribution may come out or I may create my own as well if that does happen. Possibly I would move to Slow Roll, fortunately that doesn’t seem to be an issue any more, though it could change again.

I do like the OpenSUSE is supported by a large, reputable company, something at which most of the Debian community may scoff.

Personally, my opinion is that there is a reason businesses use Leap. The reliability of the stable release cycle cannot be underestimated.