# Why SUSE Linux Enterprise 15? **URL:** \ **Category:** Chatting over the Back Fence\ **Created:** [April 24, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703 "2017-04-24T15:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mikewillis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@mikewillis](https://forums.suse.com/u/mikewillis)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/1 "2017-04-24T15:28:56Z")
openSUSE have recently announced that their version number is going from 42 to 15 and that this is related to “SUSE have decided that their next version of SLE will be 15, not 13.”\* I can’t find an explanation anywhere for why SUSE have decided that the next version of SLE is going to be 15. Is there any one here who knows and is allowed to tell? - [https://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-project/2017-04/msg00014.html](https://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-project/2017-04/msg00014.html) ---
**Author:** ![ab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@ab1](https://forums.suse.com/u/ab1)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/2 "2017-04-24T16:12:08Z")
Slightly more than idle speculation: There was a goal to unify numbers; this couldn’t be done when openSUSE Leap was announced since they were already on 13 and SLE was about to release 12, and really it was openSUSE making the big change back then. 13 was already used by openSUSE (like on my laptop right now, because I"m so happy with it I keep resisting moving just in case something newer isn’t as great… silly, I know). 13 is unlucky in western cultures, and 14 in eastern cultures. Why not: 15. – Good luck. If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface, show your appreciation and click on the star below. If you want to send me a private message, please let me know in the forum as I do not use the web interface often. ---
**Author:** ![kgroneman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f1d935/32.png) [@kgroneman](https://forums.suse.com/u/kgroneman)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/3 "2017-04-24T16:21:26Z")
That sounds good, but the actual answer that makes the most sense is 42. – Kim - 4/24/2017 7:21:14 AM ---
**Author:** ![mikewillis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@mikewillis](https://forums.suse.com/u/mikewillis)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/4 "2017-04-24T17:27:30Z")
> [@ab;37569](#): > > 13 was already used by openSUSE Was there a desire to align the SLE version with the openSUSE version? I was under the impression that openSUSE decision to align with SLE only came about after the SLE decision. The SLE decision drove the openSUSE decision, not the other way around at all. > [@ab;37569](#): > > 13 is unlucky in western cultures, and 14 in eastern cultures. If that is a/the real reason then I’m surprised that SLE 12 SP2 got kernel 4.4 because in Chinese that sounds like death.death. ---
**Author:** ![mikewillis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@mikewillis](https://forums.suse.com/u/mikewillis)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/5 "2017-04-24T17:28:31Z")
[QUOTE=kgroneman;37570]That sounds good, but the actual answer that makes the most sense is 42. [/QUOTE] 😃 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@ab1](https://forums.suse.com/u/ab1)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/6 "2017-04-24T18:31:47Z")
On 04/24/2017 08:34 AM, mikewillis wrote:[color=blue] > ab;37569 Wrote:[color=green] > > > 13 was already used by openSUSE > > [/color] > > Was there a desire to align the SLE version with the openSUSE version? I > > was under the impression that openSUSE decision to align with SLE only > > came about after the SLE decision. The SLE decision drove the openSUSE > > decision, not the other way around at all.[/color] I think in general yes, but it was previously seen as impossible because openSUSE was in the lead and it’s hard to go backward, and even harder to go back ward to a version you have already used (that’s crazy, really). With SLE moving up to 15, it probably made a lot more sense, especially since it means that packagers can avoid if-opensuse-then and if-sle-then types of logic here and there. The versions for both “distros” are now identical, which means less coding around particular distro versions. – Good luck. If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface, show your appreciation and click on the star below. If you want to send me a private message, please let me know in the forum as I do not use the web interface often. ---
**Author:** ![timscotland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@timscotland](https://forums.suse.com/u/timscotland)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 10:59am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/7 "2018-03-29T10:59:05Z")
[QUOTE=kgroneman;37570]That sounds good, but the actual answer that makes the most sense is 42. – Kim - 4/24/2017 7:21:14 AM[/QUOTE] Which is why the very first SuSE Linux version was 4.2 T ---
**Author:** ![kgroneman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f1d935/32.png) [@kgroneman](https://forums.suse.com/u/kgroneman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/8 "2018-03-29T17:16:59Z")
Hey timscotland: [color=blue] > why the very first SuSE Linux version was 4.2[/color] [light bulb moment] – Kim - 3/29/2018 8:16:45 AM ---
**Author:** ![Jim1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/jim1/32/9120_2.png) [@Jim1](https://forums.suse.com/u/Jim1)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/why-suse-linux-enterprise-15/29703/9 "2018-03-29T21:19:22Z")
On Thu, 29 Mar 2018 14:16:59 +0000, kgroneman wrote: [color=blue] > Hey timscotland: > [color=green] > > > why the very first SuSE Linux version was 4.2[/color] > > [light bulb moment][/color] And YaST was 0.42 IIRC – Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10 Novell/SUSE/NetIQ Knowledge Partner