the system freeze-ups probably ahve more to do with the recent firmware update, as I had two freezes immediately after updating my PS3. I saw a thread on PSN about that and commented on it.
as far as this maintenance, we should be encouraged. this is one of the largest if not THE largest (planned) outages they've done. Usually it's an hour or two, this time it's nine hours! THey must be beefing it up something significant.
that is not to suggest it will work when they get it up, but at least they are doing something to make our experience better.