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I have once again run across a "too many versions!" comment on another site. In this one a person going by the moniker "matt_chsi" states there are too many versions of Linux and that is why adoption of Linux is so poor. Further, this person states that he has "tried 6 or 7 different versions of Linux and there is no (sic) standards common between them except when it finally does install there is alot (sic) of software already there on install." If he truly thinks there are no standards common "between" (I would have said "among", but that's just me.) 6 or 7 "versions" (I would say "distributions".) of GNU/Linux then he did not examine them closely enough.
I will grant that I have only had experience of a handful of GNU/Linux distributions over the roughly 10 to 11 years of my exposure to GNU/Linux. However, they all have had a similar root directory structure to the Mandriva 2009.0 I am using today: bin/? boot/? dev/? etc/? home/? initrd/? lib/? media/? mnt/? opt/? proc/? root/? sbin/? srv/? sys/? tmp/? usr/? var/. I can know that configuration files are in etc/, programs are in usr/ or under opt/, libraries are under lib/ with logs and other run-time "stuff" under var/. That is a logical standard carried forward from long Unix tradition.
All the GNU/Linux desktop systems I have tried have had the desktop environments KDE and/or Gnome as well as alternatives like fluxbox, Enlightenment, and WindowMaker, to name a few. Again, this is "standard", especially among the top GNU/Linux distributions like Mandriva, the *buntus, Fedora, openSuSE and so on. The main menus may be different due to these being different distributions with different goals. But that the menus are not "standard" is not really a problem.
Actually, if all these distributions were truly radically different it would not be a problem for personal adoption of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) GNU/Linux distributions. How can I say such a thing? I can say this due to the simple fact that one can pick through these "free" distributions with impunity. It costs no money to do so. Find a distribution that one likes. Use that distribution. Once one does this why care that other distributions are different? One has the distribution one prefers at this point. All we in the FOSS community need do is adopt our acquaintances, friends, family and business associates that are interested in FOSS and help them along with the decision process.
No, the lack of "standards" for GNU/Linux is not the problem. The natural human resistance to change, corporate inertia and illegal (or at least unethical) business practices by certain large companies [1][2] are the problems. We cannot overcome resistance to change in people. Where we need to concentrate on change is with our children. Especially children locked in public education systems that are locked into proprietary operating systems [3][4]. Teach our children to use GNU/Linux and we change the future of the computing landscape.
Too many "versions" of GNU/Linux? No. Too little education about GNU/Linux? Definitely.
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Edit Sun Aug 2 11:48:22 CDT 2009: Remove the word "older" in regard to resistance to change.
Gene,
I will be 68 in five days! I have been running Linux for 11 years.
I have installed Linux on the computers of about a dozen “old” people, of whom only a couple are under 65 and one is 78. None have computer training or experience beyond Joe and Sally Sixpack. Most just do surfing, emailing, letter writing or tracking their digital photos. ALL have had such significant troubles with Windows that they couldn’t keep it running without asking me, periodically, to “fix it” (debug, rebuild or reinstall). It got so annoying to be constantly redoing the same disinfecting or repairing, almost on a weekly basis, that I told them I wouldn’t “do Windows” any more and said I’d support them if they allowed me to REPLACE Windows with Linux. All agreed. In the last three years I’ve had less than half a dozen calls for help, all related to hardware failure or absent mindedness. It has taken a load off my shoulders and given them a reliable, fast and secure computer experience. The oldest one remarked to me in church a couple weeks ago how beautiful KDE4 was, and how well it worked. I agreed!
1)More distros lead to more innovation. Developers have a better chance to come up with the best solution by trying their own unique ways to solve a problem. Eventually the best solution found by one distro is adopted by all the other distros. Think of this as medical laboratories around the world working around the clock to find a vaccine for a pandemic causing flu. Do you see how fast innovation works here?
2) More diversity leads to less chances of everyone falling sick together. Less virus infections in a more diverse ecosystem.
So I have to say that more the distros available, the better it is for the world.
[...] found this article in my feed reader this morning, which piqued my interest because, as you all know, I think the mind [...]
Anyone following this should go read the URL linked to in comment #33 above. Obviously the dude takes exception to any attempt to correct poor grammar. Actually, he also seems to have missed the point of my article.
Anyway, I too make grammatical errors on occasion. Probably more often than I realize since writing is just my hobby, not my job. Feel free to correct me when you catch my errors.
@JohnMC:
You’re nearing 60, and yet you use terms like “Windoze”? It’s people like you who make me ashamed to admit that I use Linux.
And going by the article, yes, Linux lacks standardization. I don;’ mind so many distributions as much as I mind multiple package management systems, front-ends, graphical front-ends for those front-ends and so on. A previous poster commented that tarballs are standardized. Does he/she realize a normal user doesn’t even know what a tarball means?
So much for close-mindedness.
CoolingGibbon (comment #35) thanks for the comment.
For the record, I could not care less if folks use Micro$oft, M$, Windoze, and the like in their comments here. There is a level of contempt for Microsoft that some people express this way. I have been guilty of it myself in the past. Sure, it is not “professional” but most of these folks making these comments are plain users, not IT professionals. However, if an IT professional or retired IT professional does it I think they have probably earned the right to their expression of contempt for Microsoft. Lighten up.
BTW, did you mean your close-mindedness?
Hey Gene,
Yes, I suppose I did!
I used to think “I” was close-minded before I came across Mr. I’m-too-cool-at-60 back there. I just wish people would accept whatever works for them and move on. There’s simply no need to bash something uselessly, because both Windows and Linux can and should benefit each other. Heck, I use Arch and WinXP and love ‘em both. Obviously grandpa John (IT pro or not) can do much better!
Anyway, thanks for an interesting read. Cheers.