Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 4th Feb 2009 14:11 UTC
With Linux traditionally coming in many, many flavours, a common call among some Linux fans - but mostly among people who actually do not use Linux - is to standardise all the various distributions, and work from a single "one-distribution-to-rule-them-all". In a recent interview, Linus Tovalds discarded the idea, stating that he thinks "it's something absolutely required!"
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Member since:
2007-09-06
I've been refering to specific distribution as seporate OS by name for a few years now. For me, it started with trying to avoid the confusion of "Linux" meaning everything remotely related rather than just the OS kernel. New users come from Windows or osX with this idea that it's all "Linux" and suddenly they're overwelmed with the choice and no way to differentiate.
Debian != Ubuntu != Red Hat != Mandriva != Gentoo; they are all truly individual entities that happen to use the same commodity parts for assembly. A problem with Ubuntu or Debian is rarely universally a problem with all other Linux based OS. They integrate between each other well and respect industry standards like protocols and file formats but they are as different as Hyandi and GM or Boeing and Shwitzer.
As a result, it is very rare that I'll say "Linux" rather than "Linux based OS" or the brand name unless I'm specifically meaning the kernel itself.