[mdlug] Dell survey for Linux

[Aaron Kulkis]

Robert Adkins wrote:
> Ingles, Raymond wrote:
>>> From: Robert Adkins
>>>     
>>>     The cynical part of me is strongly suggesting that the current 
>>> Darling Distro isn't well suited for all tasks, from Desktops to 
>>> Corporate Data Center servers and that shortcoming could be a 
>>> reason for Dell to proclaim in the trade press that Linux simply isn't
>>> ready for prime time. When the real problem is that the current
>>> Darling Distro isn't really geared to be everything for all purposes.
>>>     
>>  Um, I'm not sure *any* distro is "geared to be everything for all
>> purposes". I certainly can't think of one like that. That's pretty
>> much the *reason* there are a plethora of distros. (Incidentally,
>> I can't think of *any* non-Linux OS that's omni-appropriate, either.)
>     I must differ here. While there may well be multiple versions of the 
> same distro produced by a particular vendor, along the lines of 
> Microsoft producing different versions of Windows, geared between Home 
> Desktop, Business Desktop, Small Business Servers and Enterprise level 
> computing, there are certain Linux vendors that have similar product 
> offerings that are typically looked at being very similar, even if they 
> have significant differences in the kernel and some provided supporting 
> software.
> 
>     Most of the "Darling Distros" are typically geared directly for 
> desktop and or just home user/hobbyist deployment. After a while, the 
> "Darling Distro" starts looking at more business related and Enterprise 
> level computing. It is around this point that the Linux Community 
> typically flits away like a butterfly, looking for a new "Darling Distro".
> 
>     Maybe I am not deeply in tune with the greater Linus Community, this 
> is just something I have observed over the years.
> 
>     The general rule, I have observed, is that a given "Darling Distro" 
> has a few really good ideas/features and is an underdog. The community 
> swells under it, the distro grows by leaps and bounds and then starts 
> "corporatizing" itself. Some people in the community see this as 
> "selling out" or simply dislike being part of the giant crowd, so they 
> seek out another "underdog distro" and the process repeats.
> 
>     That's all I am really talking about. Personally, Linux is Linux to 
> me. I am comfortable using/figuring out the minor to major differences 
> between distros that it isn't a major issue/problem for me.
> 

Thus it has been with even Unix since the late 1970's when UC Berkeley
got a DARPA grant to take Version 7 Unix and turn it into a product
which the military could port a majority of their software to.