during my experimentation with linux i went from redhat --> mandriva --> opensuse --> ubuntu

I have been using ubuntu for a good 2+ years now. However, looking at it as of late, I have become disheartened  by how the development is going. They seem to just pile features into Ubuntu without fixing bugs. Unity looks a mess.

I am thinking of switching to either opensuse or fedora. However the most missing key feature of ubuntu is their software repository. I know how to compile, but it is a pain in the ass. I know fedora and opensuse have rpm and yum respectively. but how common and widely used are these packages compared to deb.