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 Why are there so many distros?
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BigBear




PostPosted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 10:28 am   Post subject: Why are there so many distros?

From what I can tell from trying various Linux distros they are very similar.

To me the only thing that makes most distros different is the package manager and the desktop environment.

Except most distros allow you to use many different desktop environments.

So the only thing that makes distros different is the package manager and the packages that are installed by default.

Instead of selecting which distro to use why don't we select which packages we want to have pre-installed.
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DemonWasp




PostPosted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 2:04 pm   Post subject: RE:Why are there so many distros?

There are a lot of other significant-but-subtle differences between the distros. One of the biggest ones is their update policy.

Some distros, like Ubuntu, update their latest version to use latest-stable packages every 6 months, and allow upgrading from version N to version N+1 through the package manager. They also provide security updates for out-of-date versions.

Other distros behave differently. For example, Mint also updates every 6 months and provides security backports, but doesn't allow updating through the package manager (by default).

Debian-stable doesn't upgrade to latest-stable, it upgrades to versions that are extremely well-tested and known to be long-term stable (plus security backports) because it's designed for highly-reliable servers.

Arch, on the other hand, upgrades individual packages to 'latest' very frequently, and doesn't really have version numbers. They don't really support out-of-date versions (AFAIK) and they tend to break some things, but you'll get the latest software updates.

Other differences include file system organization, build process, and the selection of which packages are offered by the package manager.
[Gandalf]




PostPosted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 3:52 am   Post subject: RE:Why are there so many distros?

Not super related, but this just reminded me of what I thought the most important difference was when I was a kid. The games that come installed with a default configuration are different. Wink It all depends on your priorities.
BigBear




PostPosted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:32 pm   Post subject: RE:Why are there so many distros?

The biggest issue with different distros and desktop environments is analysis paralysis.

New users (like me) don't know where to start.

Information online depends on your distro and doesn't always clarify that.

It seems like a lot of development time is spent on Linux distros like a lot of development time.

It seems some of it is wasted on separate things that mostly do the same thing.

If all distros shared the same package manager, you could still have different distros with different release cycles.

Desktop environments just need to be customizable to appeal to more people, instead of reinventing the wheel.

Wouldn't it be nice if all distros used the same software centre and if you bought something on one distro you could use it on another.

I think I will feel this way until I find something I am happy with and realize that having so many options was a good thing.
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