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I've installed OpenSuSE 11.0 on two machines in the past week.

First, I installed OpenSuSE 11.0 Xfce to replace Xubuntu on my old P3 1 ghz laptop. Yes, the SuSE installer is more complicated but then a lot more stuff is offered than on Xubuntu. The network configurator had problems with a static IP - the setting wouldn't stick - but apart from that things were fine. The result is a fully featured Xfce desktop that strikes me as much more attractive than Xubuntu's and with a better range of packages. Speed and memory usage are fine too, in stark contrast to the last two iterations of SuSE which were well nigh unusable on this machine.

Second, I installed OpenSuSE 11.0 to replace Debian Testing on a core duo desktop. Here, I'm afraid that some of the Techreview's criticisms do begin to bite. I too find the SLAB menu a step backwards. Nvidia's 3D drivers took some reinstalls before they "took" and why oh why are those with widescreen monitors stuck at 1200 x 1000 on the Vesa stuff out of the box? This is 2008. I tried KDE4 but it was pretty unusable and I ended up with massive file corruptions. Imho, OpenSuSE should not have included something this crude on a flagship distribution.

So I wiped and reinstalled with Gnome and some KDE 3.5. Gnome seems fine, but I experience lock-ups and crashes when 3D effects (compiz and co) are enabled. Banshee plays one track then crashes. Hibernate works but sleep only works manually, after some tweaking, whereas both worked with creamy smoothness on Debian Testing.

I haven't had a problem with multimedia on either install, but then I am an old SuSE hand and had checked the OpenSuSE wiki first anyway for multimedia tips with 11.0. Enable Packman, select a list of packages noted down in advance, and away we go.

I don't think OpenSuSE's package management is nearly as poor as Techreview paints it. So far, I've found it to be OK and reasonably fast though a long way from Debian's aptitude. The last two iterations of SuSE contained package managers so bad that I didn't use either distro for more than a few days. Small mercies with 11.0, then.

So I am a happy bunny. This strikes me as the best SuSE since the Novell takeover. However, there are certainly rough edges that would make installing SuSE unnecessarily complex if you are new to Linux. As for YaST, it is the entire point of SuSE. If you don't like YaST, don't use SuSE. I don't think it's perfect but it's certainly very good, perhaps a godsend for new users, and much better than it used to be.

And I'm still unsure where OpenSuSE is really going. I don't buy the community line with commercially owned distros. Either a distro is commercially owned or it is independent. To me, Debian is a community distro and OpenSuSE is not. I don't think there is any such thing as a halfway house. Calling the shots, the legal ownership, the marketing stuff, who is ultimately in charge - it all goes one way. It's clear that Novell has put a great deal of effort and investment into SuSE, but who is it for? Who are they aiming at? And why so many rough edges?

I think this takes us back to another thread. When too many commercially-minded marketing folks get involved, "ready for release" starts to replace ready for prime time, and then the shenanigans start.