Hi CF devs,

SUSE would like to present a proposal to add support for SUSE Linux as a stack and stemcell option, alongside the current Ubuntu base.

The intent is to allow SUSE Linux as a certified and supported variant, but not replace Ubuntu. Much of this was already technically possible with clean separations currently in place.

We have undergone a spike internally to determine feasibility, through to fully working openSUSE stemcell and stack that passes CATs and BATs. We have prepared a document[1] which discusses the intentions and the work involved to get there.

We believe this can be supported in an ongoing manner and are willing to provide the resources to do this. We have had an initial discussion with Chip, Mike and Onsi to ensure the basic premise was workable and we’d done enough initial experimentations. Now we wanted to present this proposed idea for open discussion here.

The next steps are (1) this community discussion on the proposal and (2) a follow-on spike with current upstream contributors who have experience over the current CF build system and buildpacks to flesh out potential unknown unknowns in supporting an alternative stack and stem.

Please feel free to give your thoughts in this thread and/or comment in the attached document.

Regards,

Jeff Hobbs
Director, Engineering
SUSE Application Platforms

[1] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SpCt6e5hk4fpOSCYmhMJrxuR-yfZu-RKz1w8QyYg5YE/edit?usp=sharing