The openSUSE Project — responsible for the openSUSE Linux distribution upon which Novell's SUSE line is based — has completed a major transition, more than a year in the making, with the announcement this week that the first-ever openSUSE Board Election is complete.

The openSUSE Board — established by Novell in 2007 to oversee the project — consists of five members, two elected representatives who are not associated with Novell, two elected representatives who are associated with Novell, and an appointed Chairman of the Board, selected by Novell. The project's first board was appointed entirely by Novell, making the new board a milestone for the project — for the first time, the project community has been given the opportunity to send their choice of representatives to the boardroom.

The election, which began at noon on October 9th, saw six candidates vying for the non-Novell positions, while four sought the Novell slots. Only two of the five incumbents sought re-election, though both were re-elected. A power failure in Nürnberg on October 10th caused server interruptions that forced an extension of the time for voting; the extended balloting ended at noon on Saturday, with 75% of eligible voters having participated.

The four winners of the election are:

Non-Novell: Pascal Bleser & Bryen Yunashko

Novell: Federico Mena-Quintero & Henne Vogelsang

Novell has appointed Michael Löffler to serve as the new Chairman of the Board.

More information on the election is available from the openSUSE Project's election page — more information about openSUSE Linux can be found on opensuse.org.