Small distro, big ego

Hi guys,

I feel like ranting. Thusly, I have compiled an article about the social dynamics in the Linux society, revolving around various distributions and communities.

Might be interesting ... most likely gonna provoke a heated debate

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/small-distro-big-ego.html


Cheers,
Mrk

 

Excellent article, and most apt. The OS wars are very tedious.

BTW, thanks for the awesome distro reviews!

 

Crappy evolution

 

Very well said indeed! I have never understood the viciousness displayed by some users toward distros other than then one they use. Yes, Linux is about choice. That's why there are over 300 active distros (way too much in my humble, non-technical opinion).

When I decided to try Linux, I tried LiveCds of six or seven distros. Ubuntu was the only one that just worked for me. Plus, I simply prefer Gnome over KDE. My choice. I have nothing bad to say, nor wish to if I did, about any other distro.

The more users we can bring in to use any form of Linux is a good thing. I'm not a geek. I don't wish to get into the bowels of the OS. I use my computer to get things done. In other words, it is a tool. Until Ubuntu makes my productivity unviable, I will stick with it. While I try out other distros on VirtualBox, I'm not a believer in jumping from one distro to another simply because I can or because I am always looking for the "best". If another user wishes to distro hop, that's their choice and more power to them.

It also grieves me when I see Linux users say they don't care if the masses use Linux. What's the point of having arguably the best OS on Earth if you selfishly keep it to yourself. What's the incentive for programmers and developers to give all their valuable *free* time producing distros hardly anyone uses? Go to DistroWatch and read about small niche distros going under. Without wide appeal to the small Linux base, they were doomed to fail. We should give vocal support to all the "mainline" Linux distros. Then the Linux community can really grow and offer viable alternatives to MS and Mac.

If you don't like to use the GUI, then use the command line by all means! Even with Ubuntu, one may use the terminal for practically everything. Just use your chosen distro the way you want to. Let others use it their way. Some of these "fights" are really over non-existent issues. Linux if about FREEDOM. This means use Linux how you wish but do not dare attempt to dictate how others use it.

Linux distros, like everything else, need to admit their flaws. Nothing can improve unless the flaws are exposed. No OS system is perfect and none ever will be. But unless the weaknesses are addressed none will get better.

Just some thoughts from one who has used Linux exclusively since August.

 

Thank you so much for saying this loud and clear. I was once a member of the "compile your own kernel" crowd... When I was 16. Now I think it's the territory of children and (quite frankly) lunatics.

P.S. Compiling your own kernel basically involves using menus or a config file to choose the right modules and drivers, and then running make. It is not hard at all for anyone with any significant computer experience. What it is is very tedious and time-consuming, and not at all worth the result (slightly decreased memory usage), especially in this day and age, when the cheapest netbooks come with a gig of RAM.

 

Mandriva gives the option during install to remove uneeded drivers and other stuff.

 

I agree with you to an extent. I think for most people the default distro kernel is good enough. The distros typically compile every possible driver into the kernel to support the most hardware and, as you said, the performance impact is usually minimal. However, there might be corner cases where even non-geeks might find it worth while to configure and recompile the kernel, such as if they want to turn off ipv6, for instance.

And if you run Gentoo, you have to compile the kernel to even get the system running.