---
# System prepended metadata

title: openSUSE End of the Year 2021 Community Survey

---

# openSUSE End of the Year 2021 Community Survey

## Demographics

### Gender
single choice input:
- f
- m
- non-b
- prefer not to say

### Age range:
singe choice input:
- <25
- 25-34
- 35-44
- 45-54
- 55-64
- 65 and older

### Region
single choice input:
- Americas
- Asia
- Europe
- Oceania
- Africa

### Timezone (as of this survey)
selector: [-11 to +14]

## Education & work

### Have a university degree or is pursuing a university degree?
yes/no

### IF YES: Degree...
2d matrix: [have | looking for] x [bachelor | master | above master (Phd or else) | other]

### Have a job in IT or had a job in IT for 5 years or more?
yes/no

### Actively looking for a job?
yes/no

### IF YES: Looking for a job in IT?
yes/no

## Linux, openSUSE, desktop usage

### How long have you been using a *NIX operating system on a regular basis (several times a week) in a desktop capacity?
selector (years | other):
- < 1
- 1-2
- 3-5
- 6-9
- 10 and more
- not using a *NIX operating system in a desktop capacity on a regular basis at the moment

### How long have you been using an openSUSE distribution on a regular basis (several times a week)
selector (years | other):
- < 1
- 1-2
- 3-5
- 6-9
- 10 and more
- not using an openSUSE distribution on a regular basis at the moment

### UNLESS "not using": Which openSUSE distribution(s) are you as your daily desktop driver(s) at the moment?
multiple choices:
- Leap
- Tumbleweed
- microOS

### (pending removal) IF "Leap":
selector:
- 15.2 or previous
- 15.3

### IF MORE THAN ONE: If you could simplify your workflow to use only one, assuming it could support it, which distribution would that be?
selector:
- Leap
- Tumbleweed
- microOS

### IF "not using": Which openSUSE distribution would you like to use as a daily desktop driver in the future if / when it supports your workflow?
selector:
- Leap
- Tumbleweed
- microOS

### Regardless of the above, what activities do you do the most on your mainly desktop driver?
2d matrix: [as a hobby | as a volunteer | as part of my paid profession] x [
- coding, programming, software development, devops activities
- software configuration, management, deployment, sysadmin activities
- movie editing/design for production
- music/sound editing/design for production
- text editing/formatting/publishing/production
- drawing, digital painting, visual arts
- architecture, engineering and design
- medical/scientific computing / visualization
]

### FOR EACH activities picked in the previous question: How well are the activities supported in openSUSE?
2d matrix: [... activities] x [
- not supported, doing that on a non-openSUSE distro
- some support, but room for improvement
- well supported
]

### FOR EACH LESS THAN WELL SUPPORTED activity picked in the previous question:
- free text field

### What best describes your situation with regard to gaming?
selector:
- not interested in gaming
- not gaming on my openSUSE desktop, but I am interested in games and would play on my openSUSE desktop if... [free text field]
- already gaming on my openSUSE desktop

### UNLESS no openSUSE distro selected as mainly driver : How do you prefer to acquire software for your personal use on your openSUSE main desktop driver ? Please select up to 2 preferred sources:
2d matrix: [best 2 favorite sources] x [application categories]

where __sources__: [
- packages provided by the official repositories (openSUSE:Leap & openSUSE:Factory
- .rpm downloaded and/or installed from websites and/or via a script
- flatpaks
- snaps
- AppImages
- I compile and/or package myself from source
]

where __application categories__: [
- games
- coding, programming, software development, devops activities
- software configuration, management, deployment, sysadmin activities
- movie editing/design for production
- music/sound editing/design for production
- text editing/formatting/publishing/production
- drawing, digital painting, visual arts
- architecture, engineering and design
- medical/scientific computing / visualization
]

## Linux, openSUSE, server usage

(add visual cue to make sure people don't think it's a full repeat)

### How long have you been using a *NIX operating system on a regular basis (several times a week) in a server capacity?
selector (years | other):
- < 1
- 1-2
- 3-5
- 6-9
- 10 and more
- not using a *NIX operating system in a server capacity on a regular basis at the moment

### How long have you been using an openSUSE distribution on a regular basis (several times a week)
selector (years | other):
- < 1
- 1-2
- 3-5
- 6-9
- 10 and more
- not using an openSUSE distribution on a regular basis at the moment

### UNLESS "not using": Which openSUSE distribution(s) do you install the most in a server capacity at the moment?
multiple choices:
- Leap
- Tumbleweed
- microOS
- Kubic

### Regardless of the above, what solutions and services are you hosting on your server(s)?
2d matrix: multiple choice of [as a hobby | as a maintainer of an open-source project | as part of my paid profession] x [
- analysis, simulation, modelling
- blockchain
- communication, mobile
- containers and microservices
- data lakes
- databases, datastores
- devops infrastructure, load balancing, orchestration
- enterprise productivity
- IoT
- faas
- machine learning, IA
- paas
- performance computing
- saas
- security. identity, authentication
- software building tools/toolchain
- virtualization
- web hosting (static websites, HTML)
- web hosting (not HTML, APIs, web applications)
]

### FOR EACH activities picked in the previous question: How well are the activities supported in openSUSE?
2d matrix: [... activities] x single choice of [
- not supported, doing that on a non-openSUSE distro
- some support, but room for improvement
- well supported
]

### FOR EACH LESS THAN WELL SUPPORTED activity picked in the previous question:
- free text field

### UNLESS no openSUSE distro selected in a server capacity: How do you prefer to acquire software for your server(s)? Please select up to 2 sources:

_See with Christian Bolz if he can improve this question in terms of updating and deploying software. Tools more indicative of workflow than sources. This will need rework._

2d matrix: [best 2 favorite sources] x multiple choices of [application categories]

where __sources__: [
- packages provided by the official repositories (openSUSE:Leap & openSUSE:Factory)
- .rpm downloaded and/or installed from websites and/or via a script
- flatpaks
- snaps
- AppImages
- I compile and/or package myself from source
]

## The openSUSE ecoystem & community

### What attracted you the most when starting to use an openSUSE distribution?
input type to determine

### What have been the main motivations for continuing to use an openSUSE distribution?
input type to determine

### If you had to compare your main desktop openSUSE driver to alternative operating systems, what are the 3 most salient pros in favour of openSUSE?
input type to determine

### If you had to compare your main desktop openSUSE driver to alternative operating systems, what are the 3 most salient cons against openSUSE?
input type to determine

### If you had to compare the openSUSE community to other Linux communities, what are the 3 most salient pros in favour of openSUSE?
input type to determine

### If you had to compare the openSUSE community to other Linux communities, what are the 3 most salient cons against openSUSE?
input type to determine

### Onboarding, how much do you agree with the following statements?
2d matrix [1-5 approval + do not know or not interested] x [
- it's easy to find reliable and clear documentation on openSUSE distributions
- it's easy to get openSUSE distributions installed
- it's easy to get openSUSE distributions configured and tweaked to my use case and liking
- it's easy to get support
- it's easy to get into packaging
- it's easy to get into developing the distributions?
- it's easy to get into developing / maintaining the infrastructure?
- it's easy to find guidelines or help on how to contribute to the openSUSE project in general?
- it's easy to socialize and/or make friends in the openSUSE community
]

### Governance, how much do you agree with the following statements?
2d matrix [1-5 approval + do not know or does not apply] x [openSUSE would be better off / just as good / worse off if:
- more was done to help newcomers
- more was done to mentor / teach potentially interested contributors
- more was done to develop a vision, roadmap, priorities  
]

### Outcomes, how much do you agree with the following statements?
2d matrix [1-5 approval + do not know or does not apply] x [
- openSUSE helps me improve my Linux knowledge and skills
- openSUSE helps me build transferable knowledge and skills as far as software development / devops / sysadmin tasks are concerned 
- openSUSE helps me achieve professionnally
- openSUSE helps me flourish as person committed to open-source
]

### Overall satisfaction, how much do you agree with the following statements?
2d matrix [1-5 approval + do not know or does not apply] x [
- committing my time and efforts to openSUSE as a user is a rewarding experience
- committing my time and efforts to openSUSE as a contributor is a rewarding experience
- I would recommend an openSUSE distribution to non-tech savvy friends or relatives
- I would recommend an openSUSE distribution non-tech savvy friends or relatives
]

## Communication

### What are these communication platforms good, in your experience?
2d matrix [channels] x multiple choices of [use cases]

where channels: [
- twitter
- reddit
- forums.opensuse.org
- Matrix
- IRC (Libera Chat)
- Discord
- Telegram
]

where use cases: [
- learning news about the distributions
- learning news about the community
- solving / troubleshooting my issues
- deepening my understanding of my machine / configuration
- socializing
]