DreamLinux 3.5 Review

Mr.Guvernment said:

Why cant all thes great minds just work on a similar project instead of each thinking they can do better then the last hundred, it would help the linux world so much!

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I think multiple distributions aren't just a good thing, I think it's something absolutely required! We have hundreds of distros, and a lot of them are really for niche markets. And you need that - simply because different markets simply have different requirements, and no single distro will take care of them all.

Of course, people then often say "well, do you need multiple distros for the same market" when they think about the normal desktop market and just look at the whole issue of having openSUSE/Fedora/Ubuntu all in that same space. But it really isn't that different - you still have the distributions looking at and concentrating on specific issues, and you do want the competition - and letting the markets decide which issues are the ones that really dominate.

In addition, having multiple players just keeps everybody honest, and allows you to compare them. It may all look a bit messy and complex, but I'd much rather have a multi-party system over a single-party one. Even if it's more complicated.

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Me personally, I'm a believer in choice. Yes, it can be confusing, and yes, it can cause the market to look more fragmented, but on the other hand, it also begets competition. And competition is good - and it's good even within a project. It's what makes people try different things, and it ends up being very motivational.

So I don't personally think we'd have gotten anywhere without all those wild-and-wacky distributions. I'd rather have a bit of spirited discussion and even infighting than a staid landscape with a single vendor (or a couple of vendors who carve out the market)

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