Problems Linux Enthusiasts Refuse to Address

[David Gerard]

On 5 April 2011 1 8:58, Michael Haney <thezorch at gmail.com> wrote:

> He said that one of the major strengths of Linux is actually one of
> its greatest weaknesses, and that is its immense diversity.
[...]
> There is very little standardization among the hundreds of distros out
> there.  This is one of the primary weaknesses of Linux, its heavily
> splintered.  This has started happening to Android, and Google is
> putting their foot down to stop it.


As I've pointed out before on this list, there is no way to stop this
- "reduce diversity" means, in practice, "make people stop using what
works for them." This, unsurprisingly, fails to have much effect.

(In practice, there are very few significant distros. There are
hundreds of fringe players, but only a few with any userbase or
significant mindshare.)

So given this is not optional, anything that's going to work is going
to have to use this as a strength rather than a weakness. And in fact
this is precisely why Linux has taken over *everything* except the
desktop: because it is protean and endlessly adaptable.


- d.