openSUSE Leap 16 Unveils 24-Month Support With Modern Overhaul

openSUSE Project has rolled out the beta of Leap 16, marking a substantial shift in its Linux distribution strategy by extending community support to 24 months and introducing core architectural changes. The transition signals a deliberate move toward modernization and longer-term stability for users.

Leap 16’s codebase is now aligned with SUSE Linux Enterprise 16 and built atop the SUSE Linux Framework One. The beta ships with the 6.12 kernel, GNOME 48, KDE Plasma 6.3.4, and default SELinux enforcement, while maintaining AppArmor as an option. Leap 16 demands hardware supporting x86_64-v2, leaving older 64-bit systems unsupported.

One of the boldest changes is the complete retirement of the traditional YaST stack within Leap. YaST has served as the installer, configuration tool, and system manager for two decades. In Leap 16, Agama becomes the default installer, while Cockpit assumes system management duties and Myrlyn replaces YaST’s software GUI frontend. The removal of YaST from Leap has prompted debate over its future role in the SUSE/openSUSE ecosystem.

The beta also highlights repository and package-management improvements. Leap 16 adopts RIS-based repository layout, splitting metadata by architecture to reduce overhead. An experimental parallel package download feature in Zypper aims to speed installation and updates.

Under the new support structure, each Leap 16 release is slated to receive 24 months of community maintenance and security updates, meaning the Leap 16 line could extend through version 16.6 in Fall 2031. The shift marks a departure from Leap’s previous cycle, which offered roughly 18 months of lifetime for each minor release. To accommodate this, the support window for Leap 15.6 was extended, ensuring a six-month overlap between versions.

The beta phase anticipates a release candidate by July and full general availability in October 2025. This timeline allows users a scheduled path to transition while allowing developers to test and polish core changes.

The hardware requirement of x86_64-v2 raises concerns for users who run older machines. Community forums note that those systems will be left behind unless they adopt Tumbleweed, openSUSE’s rolling-release branch, which remains more forgiving for legacy hardware. Meanwhile, the dropped SysV init further signals a move toward modern service design; legacy init support is now absent.

Community responses are mixed. Many longtime users express nostalgia for YaST’s flexibility and are cautious about depending entirely on Agama, Cockpit, and Myrlyn. Some contributors speculate that YaST components stored in GitHub may be maintained independently, but that it will no longer be part of Leap’s default package set.

Despite the transitions, openSUSE emphasizes that upgrade paths from Leap 15.6 will be supported. Users may perform in-place upgrades via zypper dup –releasever 16.0 or migrate from Leap Micro, with guidance on repository management and fallback strategies. Documentation suggests disabling unsupported third-party repositories before upgrading to reduce system conflicts.