openSUSE Leap 15.4 Reaches Beta Build Phase

The next openSUSE Leap minor release, 15.4, has entered its beta release phase today and users can begin testing the minor version to find bugs before the general release schedule for June 8.

Unlike previous 15 series versions, Leap 15.4 will offer a refresh of more modern packages for the distribution.

A variety of software packages will differ from those in openSUSE Leap 15.3, but some, like the Xfce 4.16 version, will remain the same as in the previous release. Versions of Qt 5, Plasma, GNOME, Enlightenment and many other packages will also have newer versions.

The Leap 15.4 beta phase is expected to introduce a running version of Leap Micro 5.2, which is a new offering of a MicroOS for Leap. MicroOS is a variant of Tumbleweed. Leap Micro is a modern lightweight operating system that is immutable and ideal for host-container and virtualized workloads; it provides automated administration and patching. Leap Micro is well suited for decentralized computing environments and is a microservice distribution for developers, distributed computing projects and professionals. Beta testers are likely to see the first beta version of Leap Micro within a couple weeks, and will see a general release in the spring; this will happen before Leap 15.4 reaches its public release.

Progress continues behind the scenes to ensure that H.264 and gstreamer plugins can be installed through a series of clicks as needed by the end user. These should become available during a later portion of the Beta phase or when Leap 15.4 puts out its Release Candidate.

Testers are encouraged to try out Leap 15.4 on multiple laptops, workstations and other hardware devices. People testing the beta are encouraged to record their Leap Beta testing efforts on this spreadsheet. Contributors would also like feedback for those who are testing High Performance Computing on the spreadsheet.

Leap beta testers have an option to receive a gift of gratitude, so make sure to fill in all the proper information and bug reports to get one. Then send an email to ddemaio (at) opensuse.org with your address. Please make the subject title “Leap beta testings”.

Bugs should be reported on openSUSE’s bugzilla. Bugs for packages inherited from SUSE Linux Enterprise should be reported against PUBLIC SUSE Linux Enterprise SP4, server and High Availability. The policy for setting priorities on these public products listed above have been updated. A list of the Most Annoying Bugs for the Leap 15.4 beta will be posted on the wiki.

The road map shows openSUSE Leap 15.4 will reach its Release Candidate phase in late April and the Gold Master is expected on May 27, which will be followed by a public release on June 8. The documentation and translations deadline is May 14.

Architectures available for testing include x86_64, aarch64, PowerPC and s390x. Those interested in beta testing images for openSUSE Leap 15.4 Windows Subsystem for Linux can contact the Leap release manager Luboš Kocman or the factory mailing list.