openSuSe versus retail

[Lynn Newton]

Can someone describe for me in a paragraph the differences
between the openSUSE 10.2 in its two distribution formats,
as a retail package and a free open source product?

I'm not adverse to paying for a bundled product with nice
disks, manuals, etc. I bought 9.2 in a package, and have
not regretted it. (Of course I didn't have to pay for it
myself at that time, either. This time I would.)

I've been running 9.2 for over two years, but it's time
to move on. I've loved 9.2, the most useful version of
Linux I've used yet from a user perspective. I know
Ubuntu as a Debian-based distro is supposed to be easier
to maintain and keep up-to-date. I'm experimenting with
Ubuntu now in a virtual machine under VMware on my Macbook
Pro. We'll see how that goes.

And should I decide on the retail version, does someone
know where I can get it locally? I was in Fry's at Thunderbird
by I-19 this morning, and they didn't have it.

Thanks.

-- 
Lynn David Newton
Phoenix, AZ