
From
SuSE Linux 8.1 on, YaST2 comes with a new,
powerful package manager. It supersedes the classic YaST2 single package selection and integrates the YaST Online Update (YOU) and post-installation add-on selection at the same time. It lays the foundation for supporting multiple installation sources like a traditional set of SuSE CDs, add-on product CDs, patch CDs, FTP servers or even local directories - all of which may contain software packages
to install. Specially optimized versions were implemented for both graphical user interface (the YaST2 Qt UI) or text interface (the YaST2 NCurses UI), providing each type of user with the tool that best fits his needs. Read more
for the commentary.
I find it disheartening that more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon of lets make Linux more user friendly. Well I'm all for that but not at the expense of what makes Linux well Linux.
I think package managers are in fact the wrong way to go about things. The whole point about my own Linux distrobution is that I compiled everything exactly the way I wanted it. I don't like static binaries as they are customized to my hardware, even though they are much simpler to install. If I wanted that I'd stick with the win32 equivalent binaries over in windows land. At the same time the people attacking Eugenia for her article have been harsh. She herself stated this was not a review but an impression.
Whilst we may not all agree, we should never personally attack someone in the manner I've seen here. Anyway my two cents worth.
"I likes my distro just fine, I don't need no stinking packages"