05.04.08
Gratis and Libre GNU/Linux Beats Ballnux, Which is Neither
OpenSUSE makes the ‘base’ of SLED and SLES in the same way that Fedora is partly used to construct Red Hat’s enterprise product line. However, in the former case a lot is lost (and ‘added’) throughout the process, whereas in the latter case there’s adherence to principles. It is therefore encouraging to find that OpenSUSE in its current form is still no match for Fedora or Ubuntu. Consider this latest OpenSUSE review an example. (highlights in red are ours)
So, in short I actually don’t mind SuSE, and yes Sontek, zypper is usable (though slow) and YaST has some good points. But in general, my machine was faster and more usable in ubuntu or fedora. Now, I have heard that the speed issue (with both zypper and the system in general) is fixed in 11.0, and YaST has apparently gone through some remodeling and consolidation in the new version. When that gets released I will have to revisit OpenSuSE to check it out.
It is reassuring to find that (Open)SUSE is unlikely to become a ‘de facto’ distribution for the desktop or the server (where Ubuntu/Canonical and Red Hat dominate, respectively). Anything that can prevent Microsoft from controlling GNU/Linux users by proxy would be beneficial.
One approach and method of achieving this is the omission of SUSE (don’t mention it anywhere or bring it up with anyone), which is more friendly, polite and less harmful to GNU/Linux as a whole than occasional bashing (is any publicity — including negative one — actually good publicity?). █
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.