[clug] Has Ubuntu resulted in a decline of Linux distribution innovation

[Paul Wayper]

On 21/06/09 18:51, Daniel Pittman wrote:
> Paul Wayper<paulway at mabula.net>  writes:
>> Really, the choice is actually much simpler: do we let one or two big
>> distributions dictate how our operating system / GUI / mabulator works, or
>> do we let the open market work?
>
> It seems to me that you are drawing a false dichotomy here: you would need to
> prove that having one or two big distributions[1] is somehow a failure of the
> open market.

OK, maybe I didn't draw my analogy so well.

If the choice is between allowing lots of different operating system, or 
letting Microsoft and Apple tell us how things are going to work and what we 
can and cannot do, then I'll go with the former even if it means lots of 
wasted effort and arguments.

I've had people argue that Canonical and Google are just as 'oppressive' as 
Microsoft, although the various interlocutors that have attempted this 
argument with me seem to cherry-pick their examples of 'oppressiveness'.  But 
even if it were true and Canonical really were bent on dominating the Linux 
world, it would be simple for people to take the same code and free themselves 
from the Canonical shackles - its right there in the GPL.

There are a number of reasonable methods to deal with too much choice.  None 
of them say "throw away your ability to ever choose again".  When Microsoft or 
Apple offer their operating systems as a way of "choosing" amongst the throng 
of OSes available, they both represent themselves as the _only_ choice.  And 
both Apple and Microsoft have worked, in their own ways, to prevent people 
choosing other operating systems.  No Linux distro, and no other free OS, does 
that.  When you choose Linux, you also choose the ability to run OS X or 
Windows or pretty much any other operating system side by side with no problems.

> Footnotes:
> [1]  As opposed to the present three, or four, depending on how you count
>       them, in the first tier, then about as many again in the second tier.
>       Much like how IT "system" hardware vendors have fallen out, as it happens.

See, 'how you count them' here is actually fairly important.  Go to LCA and 
count which distros are in use - Debian wins hands down two-to-one over Ubuntu 
(from memory, based on 2008 numbers).  Go to Germany and I've heard that SuSE 
is much more popular.  But in my opinion artificially dividing them up into 
tiers trivialises the richness and diversity of the Distribution ecosystem. 
Some people care about whether you get phone support; some people care about 
what packages are available; some people care about the user interface; some 
people care about the customisability; some people like the speccy graphics; 
others want something else entirely.  You choose your distro and you see how 
you go.  No-one's forcing you to stay with "Distro X" because of vendor 
lock-in or anti-competitive practices.

Have fun,

Paul