Saturday, June 15, 2013

freedom and user-friendliness

Over at DarkDuck's blog, check out the article "Divergence in the distros: how the Linux community is splitting into a two-tier system" (while keeping in mind the author's comment that "...the two tier model is not meant to be proof of itself. I'm using it to illustrate a divergence in purpose within the Linux community"). As always, I'd also recommend taking a look at the comments following the article.

For the purposes of the discussion, the author compares Zorin OS, Linux Mint, and Ubuntu, on the one hand, to Debian, openSUSE, and Fedora on the other (of those, I'm using or have used all but Zorin):

Zorin and Mint [and Ubuntu] draw their users by offering functionality and usability at no cost whatsoever. They offer a product [...] Debian, openSUSE, and (in some ways) Fedora don't intend to offer a product. They do, but it's more by accident than design (excepting, to an extent, Fedora). Instead, what they offer is a philosophy. A movement.

This may not accurately describe things -- one could argue that Debian Stable, for example, is certainly an intended end-product of that distro's philosophical approach -- but the author's main point is well-taken; I see nothing at all wrong with this "divergence in purpose."

No comments: