Ok, as some of you know I was a openSUSE user for some time, and still like to be a fly on the wall in their forums so to speak. They are going through a major transition over the next one or two releases, as a result of SUSE/openSUSE being cut free from the other companies that "control" them. They have been kicked around so much the last few years it is hard to keep up, but Attachmate recently sold them as well to Micro Focus.
Basically, SUSE/openSUSE are going to be more tightly integrated and are going to share more of the base/core system. openSUSE is going to model their new releases after a Debian type approach with 3 year support using an already outdated core SUSE, than patching/backporting some newer programs onto the old/stable core. They will also offer a "bleeding edge" tumbleweed edition that is a rolling release, and includes the problems of a rolling release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH99TSrfvq0
Their userbase is quite upset and split at the moment...Not many used or are interested in tumbleweed and they do not like the idea of having their stable release be several years old when it is a "new release".
I think Mageia could step in as a logical switch given its releases are neither old nor bleeding edge, and somewhere comfortably in the middle, which is what openSUSE is leaving/neglecting with all future releases.
Seems that as openSUSE abandons the traditional desktop user to push into the enterprise market more, in the same manner as CentOS and Debian are, then Mageia can step in and claim a nice share of the desktop market.
Thoughts anyone????