Below are some opinions, based I what I have seen so far:
1) The geeky world of the Linux community is hard for the average person on the streets to
understand. Most elderly people who are familiar with Windows XP, would need someone
to guide them around the desktop, on a Linux computer.
2 ) The Linux desktop community is way too fragmented. Nobody can see the forest for the trees.
For example Fedora uses RPM.org as its package manager. OpenMandriva uses RPM5 as its package manager. They have the same exact programs yet are totally incompatible and there are plans
to make them less compatible. DNF does not yet work with RPM5. Mageia 6 already has DNF 2.0 and they have DNF 2.1 working in their test version of Mageia 7.
3 ) International and cultural differences affect distro development, and also the user base.
People outside of China or Russia are scared to use a Chinese distro or a Russian distro
even though though the distros are excellent. Deepin is Chinese. ROSA is Russian. There are people in the USA that would not use SparkyLinux just because it is developed in Poland, yet it is an excellent distro.
4 ) Any really good Linux geek can create their own distro. Or at least make a "spin" of an
existing distro, by just changing a few things. For example, Hannah Montana Linux.
5 ) Linux distros are still a work in progress. The latest version of Linux Mint 18.3 looks
promising, yet there are already dozens of complaints on the internet. The kernel itself is still in
development. Almost no distros currently use the latest stable version of the Linux kernel.
It often takes developers about 6 months to incorporate all the changes and test them when a
new kernel is introduced. The new kernel mainly affects people who are using new hardware,
like the latest Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen, or AMD Vega video card.
6 ) Many distros have an ideology that stick to traditional ways Linux has always worked.
Thus a younger developer working by himself, can do in a way what Linus Torvalds did
in 1992 and that is shake up the traditional ways.
7 ) Linux Mint is a great distro, and a great way for new users to see the potential of a Linux
based operating system. However, one of the fun aspects of Linux is looking for ways
to do things differently. A single developer like the guy at ArchMerge, or SparkyLinux
or ExTix, can do whatever their hearts desire to do and that is often different than the way
Linux Mint works. Other distros like Antix, KDE Neon, or KaOS, or Solus have a small
group of volunteer developers that want their computers to operate with a different set of
internal components.
8 ) Linux has great potential and will someday be an incredible tool to operate computers. For
those that understand that, there are already opportunities. For example, the Sony PlayStation
3 is a Linux computer. There was a guy who connected 16 Sony Playstations together in a
cluster and formed some kind of home-made super-computer.
9 ) Ubuntu is actually a group of distros who share many common components of the Debian distro.
Debian by itself is difficult for a non-geek to set up as an operating system.
10 ) Ubuntu is so popular that dozens of geeks use it and modify it to make their own distro. They
do this by removing components and adding components. Ubuntu may intern make the same changes a year later, after watching the trends.
11 ) Nearly all the current distros use a recent version of the Linux kernel such that most if not all of the hardware will be properly identified. There are still issues with Wi-Fi and video cards,
and printers, but most of the Ubuntu based distros have simplified those problems.
12 ) Linux distros have come a long way in the past 3 years. Some free software works good
enough for the average computer user, such that they really do not need to purchase software.
13 ) Nearly all the popular distros are a better choice than Windows XP for "desktop" computing,
unless you require a specific application that will only run on Windows XP. There are a
dozen things you can do on 2017 Linux version that you can not do on a Windows XP
machine.
14 ) Linux distros have zero desire to be like Windows. There may be some environments that
try to emulate the appearance of the desktop, but that is it.
15 ) There is a operating system trying futily to be like Windows called ReactOs, but it is NOT a
Linux based operating system.
16 ) TrueOS ( FreeBSD - not Linux ) and it cousins GhostBSD and DragonflyBSD are all really cool, but they are not
Linux distros. They only allow the usage of most of the same software. There are reasons
why a computer developer would not want to use Linux and it has to do with selling the
operating system, or parts of it. There are reasons a computer user might want to use those
instead of Linux. At the present time, they are harder to understand than Linux. But they
too have great potential.
17 ) It is hard for a new user to understand what is a repository. It is like an app store.
Unfortunately, most distros can not share repositories. Each distro has a certain way they
interact with downloading software. There are people who understand the pitfalls of this and
are working hard to find ways to improve it.
18 ) Mageia is a great distro. Most of its user base is in France or Germany. They are working
on a new version for the fall of 2018, called Mageia 7. It is going to be awesome. Mageia 6
is my favorite distro.
19 ) So why would anybody use Antergos? Antergos is an excellent operating system, that
simplifies the use of the Arch way of doing things. Simply put, Arch is completely different
from Debian and Fedora and Red Hat, and Ubuntu, Solus, etc. What makes Arch so great to
Linux geeks, is it is customizable and has the largest repository of most recent versions of
software. Using Arch by itself, is strictly for hard-core Linux geeks. Fortunately, there is
ArchMerge, SwagArch, Antergos and Manjaro to help Linux geeks dive into the world of
Arch - from which they never return.
20 ) I like to play FreeCell on Linux. The game is part of a software called Aisleriot Solitaire. I
like it better than the Windows version. I only wish someone would update it as it has not had
an attention in many years. The same is true of Gnome Mahjongg.
21 ) What I would like my computer to do is for me to be able to choose different ways of using
Linux without having to log-out. What I mean by that is I would like to only have one
distro that lets me choose for my desktop to emulate a certain kind of other desktop.
Meaning I would like to tell it to emulate Gnome or Mate, but without dragging in the actual
dependencies for those desktops. I think it can be done, and I know I saw somewhere that a distro was doing something similar.
22 ) Until retail stores, like Walmart, carry inexpensive laptops and tablets with Linux on them,
Linux distros are only going to be a hobby for most computer desktop enthusiast. Most
Linux geeks have no interest in Linux becoming a major player in the operating system. It is
much more likely that Linux could fragment even further.
23 ) Linux distros brag about being stable. That is usually true as long as you do not update
anything. Updating certain components like the kernel or systemd, or Mesa or the Nvidia
driver, can wreck havoc. The worst update of all is upgrading versions of the distro. This is
often a really bad idea, yet the developers try to make it as smooth as possible. I believe it is
better to just do a clean install from scratch.
24 ) Distros occasional split up and form similar distros with intangible differences that the user
can not see. For example, Devuan formed because Debian refuses to give up systemd.
Mandriva split up into about 4 different distros, due to legal squabbles and bankruptcy.
25 ) Some distros are experimenting with the latest components often have a whole
lot of work ahead of them, just to make the system stable. Wayland will someday replace Xorg
as the display protocol. However, currently you can not record your screen session for making
YouTube videos if you are using Wayland. Currently, switching display protocols requires
logging out and logging back in. Most desktop environments won't run on Wayland for years to
come. A Linux user will need to know about all that in the meantime.
26 ) Gaming on Linux sucks, but is much better than it was 3 years ago. It promises to be good in
a few years. There is a graphics protocol called Vulkan that is supposed to fix this problem.
27 ) YouTube channels, like Don't Call me Lenny, XramTech, Joe Collins and Linux and Other
Things, and English Bob, and Sudo Linux and Sneeky Linux and others have helpful tips that
can often save you a lot of time in deciding which distro to use.
28 ) For some bizarre reasons, Web-browsers cause Linux developers major headaches. For this
reason some developers choose to either use an old version of a web-browser or they choose to
use a less popular one like PaleMoon, which is based on older versions of Firefox.
29 ) My personal view is a person should use a Linux computer, by itself with no other operating
system on it. Imagine how complicated your cell-phone would be if it were a Windows
phone, and you had to boot a certain way to make it an Android phone, and that Android ran
crappier in a Windows phone.
30 ) I also do not buy the common trend of running Linux in virtual environments. Sure it is
easier and quicker, but you are not getting the full experience. It is like a diet soda or having
sex with a condom.
29 ) My personal view is a person should use a Linux computer, by itself with no other operating
system on it. Imagine how complicated your cell-phone would be if it were a Windows
phone, and you had to boot a certain way to make it an Android phone, and that Android ran
crappier in a Windows phone.
30 ) I also do not buy the common trend of running Linux in virtual environments. Sure it is
easier and quicker, but you are not getting the full experience. It is like a diet soda or having
sex with a condom.
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