"Linux is about choice"

[anticapitalista]

Let's not forget that linux is not only about choice for the user, but also for the developer.

[asqwerth]

Haha, agreed.

What I got from the article was that the user should choose a distro whose developer's aims and target group fits your own use case. And then if you like that distro, try to support the developer if you can, even if it's just by donating a small amount or reporting a bug. That way you might help make it better.

If you prefer to only use GUI tools and not the terminal for instance, don't try to install and maintain Arch Linux or Gentoo, and then complain that it's so tech-y and newbie unfriendly.

If you are the total opposite, a hands-on user preferring the terminal, minimalist window managers and a bare bones install with very few preinstalled applications, don't install a full-featured Plasma or Gnome distro and then complain about bloat and having to remove tons of applications.

Since most distros are not going to be found preinstalled on computers, the user or the person recommending and effecting the installation of Linux must decide which distros are most suitable for the user. Often, it's only by trial and error that the user discovers which distro fits him or her the most. So clear descriptions from the developers as to what their distro is or is not, would be helpful.

[clicktician]

The author writes "The choice meme is often used to explain why there are so many Linux distributions..."

Of course, this is ridiculous. Choice is not the cause of anything. It's a result. A deer does not just lie down and grow long legs so that it can run fast. It runs fast because it has long legs. Likewise, the luxury of choice is an outcome of some other force.

So what is that "force?" IMHO Open source developers generally believe that if they build upon the efforts of others who generously shared with them -- they likewise have an inherent obligation to openly share their work so others get the same opportunities. This chain of evolution, criticism and continual improvement through the "power of the many" is the very passion and conviction that fuels the open source movement.

It's not about free software or choices. Those are just by-products of the underlying machine.

It's the same force that causes people to help others on this forum. If members have freely helped you, it is your responsibility to help other forum members if you can. That is the price.

[Richard]

That's what distro hopping is all about.
Looking for that distro that is closest
to working the way you want it to, out of the box.

Although, with MX Linux and the Snapshot tool,
you can have it your way, all the way.