openSUSE Leap 15.3 Released, Becomes a Free Counterpart to SLE

The new openSUSE Leap 15.3 is based on SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP3 and will receive support until December 2022.

After almost a year of development, the openSUSE project has presented a new version of its stable Linux distribution openSUSE Leap 15.3. The newest minor version is the most recent, rock-solid addition to the openSUSE 15.x series that carries all the positive attributes of its predecessors.

There is one huge change from the previous Leap versions. openSUSE Leap 15.3 is built not just from SUSE Linux Enterprise source code like in previous versions but with the exact same binary packages, strengthening the flow between Leap and SUSE Linux Enterprise.

In other words,ย openSUSE Leap will become a free counterpart to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)ย and the server variant (SLED) without commercial support.

Whatโ€™s New in openSUSE Leap 15.3

Leap 15.3 comes with Linux Kernel 5.3.18. This kernel is the same one used in SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 Service Pack 3 and is maintained by SUSE. In addition, Linux Kernel 5.3 introduces support for AMD Navi GPUs and new IPv4 addresses.

Xfce 4.16 introduces new major features. First, there is a new visual identity in this release of Xfce. With new icons and palettes, Xfce shines more out of the box. In addition, the Settings Manager received a visual refresh of its filter box, which users can now hide permanently.

openSUSE Leap 15.3 comes with Plasma 5.18 Long-Term-Support. In Plasma 5.18, you will find neat features that make notifications clearer, settings more streamlined, and the overall look more attractive. Moreover, it comes with better support for GTK applications using client-side decorations.

openSUSE Leap 15.3 KDE Desktop

To help relax your eyesight, a new system tray widget lets you toggle the Night Color feature. You can also configure keyboard shortcuts to turn Night Color and Do Not Disturb modes on or off.

Instead of the current Gnome 40, openSUSE Leap 15.3 offers GNOME 3.34, which comes with many new features, bug fixes, and better performance. For example, now it is possible to create, rename, and delete folders using Drag nโ€™ Drop actions in the application overview.

This makes organizing applications much easier and keeps the application overview clutter-free. The overview visual style was also refined, including the search entry field, the login password field, and the overview window highlight border.

This release introduces several Artificial Intelligence packages, such as TensorFlow 2020.08.23, PyTorch 1.4.0, ONNX 1.6, Grafana 7.3.1, and Prometheus.

The common development tools and scripting languages โ€‹โ€‹supplied with openSUSE Leap 15.3 are up-to-date: Go 1.15, Perl 5.26.1, PHP 7.4.6, Python 3.6.12, Ruby 2.5, and Rust 1.43.1.

Other Essential Changes

Below is a quick summary of popular applications and their updated versions in openSUSE Leap 15.3.

  • LibreOffice 7.1.1
  • Thunderbird 78.7.1
  • Chromium 89
  • Firefox (ESR) 78.7.1
  • VLC 3.0.11.1
  • Tilix 1.9.4
  • Blender 2.92
  • ImageMagick 7.0.7

For more information about all new features for this release, see the official release notes.

Download openSUSE Leap 15.3

openSUSE comes with separate installer images for server, desktop, and minimal network install. In addition, you can also get separate desktop environment images. Download the latest Leap version by following this link.

You can create a bootable USB flash drive from the downloaded ISO file and install the new openSUSE Leap 15.3 in a physical system.

Bobby Borisov

Bobby Borisov

Bobby, an editor-in-chief at Linuxiac, is a Linux professional with over 20 years of experience. With a strong focus on Linux and open-source software, he has worked as a Senior Linux System Administrator, Software Developer, and DevOps Engineer for small and large multinational companies.

Think You're an Ubuntu Expert? Let's Find Out!

Put your knowledge to the test in our lightning-fast Ubuntu quiz!
Ten questions to challenge yourself to see if you're a Linux legend or just a penguin in the making.

1 / 10

Ubuntu is an ancient African word that means:

2 / 10

Who is the Ubuntu's founder?

3 / 10

What year was the first official Ubuntu release?

4 / 10

What does the Ubuntu logo symbolize?

5 / 10

What package format does Ubuntu use for installing software?

6 / 10

When are Ubuntu's LTS versions released?

7 / 10

What is Unity?

8 / 10

What are Ubuntu versions named after?

9 / 10

What's Ubuntu Core?

10 / 10

Which Ubuntu version is Snap introduced?

The average score is 68%