When comparing OpenSUSE vs Anarchy Linux, the Slant community recommends OpenSUSE for most people. In the question“What are the best Linux distributions for desktops?” OpenSUSE is ranked 14th while Anarchy Linux is ranked 65th. The most important reason people chose OpenSUSE is:
The packaging team is dependable resulting in system updates that come in a timely fashion and systems which rarely, if ever, break due to packaging. The versions of software that are selected and the configuration of them is typically extremely high quality.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Extremely reliable
The packaging team is dependable resulting in system updates that come in a timely fashion and systems which rarely, if ever, break due to packaging. The versions of software that are selected and the configuration of them is typically extremely high quality.
Pro Easy installation and administration
openSUSE makes use of a GUI tool called YaST to install and setup an openSUSE system.
YaST is very easy to use and makes the process of installing and maintaining an openSUSE installation a breeze.
Pro Easily get packages from other sources
SUSE Build Service offers packages from the same sources as Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE Linux Enterprise and other distributions. This is the most underused package tool in Linux today.
Pro Probably the best KDE desktop experience
Both Gnome and KDE desktop options are well polished to fit with the opensuse theme and environement, so either desktop is a great choice.
Pro Very stable
Stable, reliable, rock solid.
Pro Amazing choice for both newbies and power users
OpenSUSE is very easy in terms of installing packages, administration and customization, yet very powerful in the same. Every user should find his own piece of cake in this OS.
Pro Supports RPM packages
Popular format shared with distros like Fedora, RHEL, Scientific Linux, Mageia etc.
Pro Built-in drivers
Does the job needed and has the hardware drivers for the application built-in by the H/W supplier.
Pro Dedicated professional community
Directions on other desktop Linux's often force you to use GUI packages or have steps that introduce security issues.
OpenSUSE has a professional community and directions are usually geared toward GUI and CLI with similar steps.
Pro "Tumbleweed" Rolling Release
Regular and easy upgrades to stable and well tested software.
Pro Feature rich
It comes standard with a large number of pre-added applications that sort out your day-to-day use.
Pro YaST
Best administration and setup tool.
Pro One-Click install
Much better system then other distros for installing any package. It is as simple as clicking on one button and typing in your password. Adds a repo to your system keeping everything updated at the same time.
Pro Fast
Applications feel fast.
Pro Convenient package management with Zypper
Fast, reliable, powerful and almost impossible to leave a broken system.
The Yast interface will also give you access to a Zypper GUI if you are uncomfortable with the command line.
Pro Outstanding community support
OpenSUSE has a VERY active user community. Questions on forums are generally answered in minutes.
Pro LVM on LUKS encryption of whole disk possible
It works! Whereas neither the calamares installer used by arcolinux or manjaro nor the archlabs installer produces a working result.
Pro The end result is a well configured standard Archlinux system
Pro Saves a lot of time to set up an Archlinux system
Once you had your experience to set up an Archlinux system manually from scratch this distro saves a lot of setup time.
Pro Full access to Arch repositories as well as Aur
Pro Many preconfigured Desktop environments supported
Pro Fully developed in Bash
Being programmed entirely in Bash, it is relatively easy to find and solve errors or propose improvements.
Pro Everything you need in a small and fast Arch distro
Pro Low setup time
Even a person without prior knowledge will figure out how to set it up quite quickly.
Pro Looks good by default
Pro Supports 32-bit architecture
Use ArchLinux32 instead of the traditional Arch Linux to support 32-bit architectures.
Pro Friendly community
The community and developers are willing to solve any kind of inconvenience.
Pro Good for gaming
Smooth and cool. Easy to get going.
Cons
Con Some clear differences from other Linux distros
This might be a systemd issue or OpenSUSE specific, but changing certain text files does not update things. They must be edited in YaST, or in /etc/sysconfig/
Con Old kernel by the Leap version
Kernel in Leap 42.3 is in version 4.4, that's pretty old.
Con Poor support for nVidia drivers in Tumbleweed
No native driver support and nouveau may be broken, especially for KDE, and not suitable for some GPUs.
Con Bloated and slow
Con Short lived distro
Every release lasts 18 months only before needing a major upgrade.
Con Updates
Not a huge problem, but Tumbleweed is better updated via the command line.
Con Massive ISO download
The base ISOs are over 4 gigs, so be prepared for a very long DL if you have slow internet. There's a network installer version, but that just delays the long DL.
Con Bad support to NTFS fotmat.
Con Limited community support
The community is fairly small, and there is no indication on the forums regarding when a issues will be solved.
Con Packman repository has to be added to have good software support
Con Startup takes a long time
Con Updates
Not a huge problem, but Tubleweed is better updated via the command line.
Con Complex permissions policy
Con Nothing new
It's just Arch with a graphical installer.
Con Anarchy Repo is completely unsigned
Ridiculous security risk.
Con TUI can be confusing for the uninitiated
The TUI is as good as can be expected, but if you're not comfortable with the command line, this isn't where you want to be.
Con Just an Installer
Anarchy isn't its own distro, it's just an installer for Arch. That's great if it's what you're after, but don't expect bells and whistles.
Con Redundant
It's just Arch with a graphical installer and ArchLabs already has this.
Con The installer has many bugs
Especially during the manually partitioning and the additional software installing procedure. If you do the automatic partitioning and you don't install additional softwares it's ok.