..::B:R:A:D::..

I just read this post “Linux Needs More Distros!” and agree completely with the author. This is something I have thought about bringing up recently myself . As far back as I can remember there has always been those people who complain about the number of Linux distributions available. I have never really understood this rhetoric. Nobody ever says, there are too many magazines in publication today. New magazines are being printed all the time. Some die out and new ones come in, just like the world of Linux distributions. Just like Linux there are magazines printed for specific audiences, specific needs, and specific localizations.

Having the multitude of distributions we have now is actually a good thing and a significant strength to our advantage. Here I will attempt to list what I feel are the reasons that more is better.

[Competition]
Competition is the heart of capitalism, monopolies are not (no matter what Microsoft tries to tell you). Introducing competition in the market is always a good thing. It forces the competing sides to stay relevent, forces them to be innovative, and it forces them to continually improve (the foundation of quality assurance practices).

What’s even better than competition? Competition with cooperation! Not only do all these distributions compete with one another, a lot of the work they do also helps each other (the common good). This is the power of Open Source.

[Choice]
Users are able to determine what distribution will best suit their needs. Not everyone will need all the enterprise features and support options from Red Hat or Novell. Not everyone could get by with a desktop oriented system like Linspire. Not everyone wants to use a distribution packaged for Swahili speaking people.

Choice also forces users to be educated. Having choice makes you seriously look at what your needs are, understand the options, and make an informed decision. While I know people don’t always take advantage of this (i.e. choose the most well known rather than the best) the more people become familiar with Linux the more they will take advantage of all there is to offer.

[Focus]
The one thing I always try to explain to people is that not all distributions of Linux are built for the same purpose. You wouldn’t buy a Ford Focus to haul your boat to the lake, likewise you wouldn’t buy an 18 wheeler to take your kids to school.

A lot of distributions have specific goals or purpuses. There are distributions packaged solely around clustering. Other distributions are created to be bleeding-edge and show off or test new ideas. Some distributions are built to do very specific jobs or provide specific services. One other reason for new distribuitons is localization. Linux has been a huge boon for many parts of the world with limited resources and localized distributions have popped up all over the place.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 25th, 2005 at 7:17 pm and is filed under Linux. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.