This week, Linux Online is pleased to offer you this interview with Mr. Heiner Maasjost, Vice President for Marketing at SuSE. We talked to Mr. Maasjost about their newest Linux distribution release, his opinion on the fight for the desktop and the ever present Microsoft issues, among other topics.

Linux Online: SuSE has just released its latest version, 7.2. The latest big topic of conversation is Linux on the desktop, so have the people at SuSE put anything into this latest version that addresses this. That is, that makes it more user friendly?

Heiner Maasjost: No doubt, Linux is ready for the desktop. We have pursued this direction already with our product split when we divided our product into SuSE Linux Personal and Professional edition.

SuSE Linux 7.2 Personal provides an up-to-date Linux system, running user-friendly and useful software. It's easy to install, even for new users. Home and small business users will find everything they'd expect in a desktop system - without having to pay the big license fees. You get software such as Netscape Navigator for Web-browsing; Acrobat Reader for reading and printing .pdf files; StarOffice for word processing and other familiar office tasks; the sophisticated computer graphics program GIMP; and e-mail and organizer tools. The audio and video editing system Broadcast2000 turns your PC into a high-speed multimedia machine.

Furthermore, the SuSE Desktop offers many convenient features. All applications can be accessed with one mouse click, and a list displays additional options for programs which have not been installed yet. Important functions are hosted in the quick menus. The SuSE Help Tool is on standby to provide you with information. Interaction with other systems - in networks, locally, or on the road - is integrated.

We succeeded in introducing new user groups to Linux with "SuSE Linux Personal" and creating profound enthusiasm among our advanced customer group of technically inclined users with "SuSE Linux Professional".

Linux Online: Mandrake's getting a lot of press lately about being a very 'user friendly' distribution. Red Hat has been in the news this past week about its profitable last fiscal quarter. Red Hat seems to be doing well in the corporate server sector and Mandrake is gaining lately in the home market. SuSE has traditionally done well in both. Are you afraid that each will become associated in the public's mind with these areas and SuSE may be relegated to a second tier.

Heiner Maasjost: We place our clear focus towards the business customer. SuSE is one of the most experienced Linux companies worldwide. We meet customer requirements for future-oriented and system-independent, multi-platform solutions. Based on our extensive and long-standing Linux know-how, SuSE is the service provider of choice for companies with complex requirements. Our unique expertise in Linux and our largest development team worldwide dedicated to Open Source software has contributed to the recognition of SuSE as the most trusted partners for Enterprise and SME companies. Currently this is true especially for Europe, however we are working on extending this on a worldwide basis.

Linux Online: SuSE had always been the preferred distribution in Europe. Red Hat rather dominates the USA market. TurboLinux is big in the Pacific countries and Far East. What's left is the emerging markets, like the Ibero-American countries. SuSE is building a market there now with some competition coming from Conectiva. How is that market turning out for you in terms of both home customers and corporate clients?

Heiner Maasjost: There is high potential for the Ibero-American region. We have established an efficient sales channel which we will steadily expand. Establishing our own subsidiary in this region is currently not part of our plans, but as markets evolve, things can change. At this point we are happy to work together with strong technical partners.

Currently SuSE Linux is available in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Korean, Czech, Hungarian and Japanese. The amount of customers have steadily increased. As for the Ibero-American market we have recently gained two major companies from the financial sector: Banco Mercantil Venezuela and also Banco Americano in San Salvador.

Linux Online: Linux companies seem to be giving up on Initial Public Offerings of stock. A lot of people were asking some time ago when SuSE was going to have their IPO. SuSE seems to be doing well with its stock in private hands. Is this going to continue for the foreseeable future?

Heiner Maasjost: We have strong partners on our side: Intel, Compaq, SGI, IBM - to name but a few. Developing the business and opening up international markets is the main priority for SuSE. In case we need additional capital to finance our growth, a public offering would be one of several options.

Linux Online: The public perception is that Linux should be free of charge. How should a company then, like SuSE, who "sells" Linux focus their efforts in marketing a product like the Linux operating system?

Heiner Maasjost: You have to meet the gap between commercialising a product and staying close to the Linux community. SuSE has walked this way very consequently and succeeded with this strategy. But you can expect more of SuSE then selling Linux. We offer a comprehensive range of qualified consulting, training, and support services. An increasing number of large, well-known enterprises have trusted SuSE, e.g. with their high-end database and server configurations.

Linux Online: Another question I'd like to ask is: How is Linux to be marketed? I mean, by selling Red Hat vs. SuSE or Debian vs Mandrake, we, in the Linux business place doubt in people's minds about Linux itself. Does SuSE try to focus on Linux vs Microsoft and stay away from SuSE vs other distros?

Heiner Maasjost: Yes, we view Microsoft as our core competitor. Our clear goal is to make open source the global standard. Within the Linux space, the core differentiator is the size of a companies skill base, its approach to quality as well as its focus on customer needs.

As a central element in the Linux development, SuSE ensures that customer needs are a driving factor for a targeted and solution-oriented development. This applies to the requirements of both professional users (scalability, SMP, journaling file system, large file support) who use SuSE Linux as a server platform, and private PC users (user-friendliness, convenience)

Linux Online: Speaking of Microsoft, the people from Redmond have focused their attention on anti-Linux advertising in Germany, having placed ads in SuSE's home country. Do you see that as a clear reference to SuSE's leadership as a distribution- perhaps targeting you in particular?

Heiner Maasjost: "Microsoft is bound for some serious competition" a US magazine has written earlier this year reviewing SuSE Linux 7.1. In regards to advertising in Germany, Microsoft particularly targets us, because we are market leader by far.

Linux Online: If I can go back to the desktop issue for a moment: When you're designing the installation process, who decides what's going to get into a "default" installation? (Things like KDE and StarOffice, for example). How is this decided?

Heiner Maasjost: We build our products to the anticipated needs of our customers. Decisions like what's going to get into a "default" installation, obviously require a high degree of innovative thinking on the part of our people. At SuSE we foster an atmosphere of creativity and openness that seemingly belies the discipline required, especially in the SuSE Labs.

Linux Online: I'd also like to return to the MS issue as well. Microsoft doesn't have a commercial version of Windows out for the Itanium chip but some Linux distributions, including SuSE do. Along with the embedded space, do you see this as proof that Linux is actually leading what is going to be tomorrow's computing environment, despite what the mainstream press says?

Heiner Maasjost: Our main issue is that the mainstream press still doesn't understand that Linux will change and revolutionize the world's understanding of IT-infrastructure. We are more flexible, we are faster, we are better and we are more committed - that way the Itanium system is already available on SuSE Linux 7.2. More surprises are going to follow.

Our development team and the engineers in our SuSE Labs, are consistently working on enhancing these features and also pursuing new ways on the cutting edge of technology. Their commitment to the Linux development and their years of experience enable them to tackle even the most difficult hardware and software customization challenges.

Linux Online: A short time ago, SuSE launched its SuSE Linux Knowledge Portal. How's that being received by the public?

Heiner Maasjost: Great in fact. The SuSE Linux Knowledge Portal has been very popular right from the outset. Only two months after its launch, the number of page impressions per month passed the one million mark. And visitors to the portal take their time for the site: on an average, 5.8 articles are read during each visit - clear evidence of the quality of the published articles.

Linux Online: Just one last question! What's been selling better this week, SuSE Linux 7.2 boxed sets or the stuffed penguins?

Heiner Maasjost: Of course SuSE Linux 7.2! But as a matter of fact, the plush toys are selling pretty good. It's nice to have some fun products - they make nice gifts.

More information on the SuSE Linux distribution and their other products (including stuffed penguins!) at http://www.suse.com