Are there too many Linux distributions currently available? Can there be too many? This article explores the effect of the large number of distros out right now and suggests that progress could possibly be made through a consolidation.
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Member since:2005-07-06
However, it would be nice to have an integrated function where, when you right-click on a link in your browser, a context menu pops up with an entry to "Install link as package".
Beats me that it doesn't exist yet except for Linspire.
What drives me to these considerations is the realisation that a lot of opensource software is easier to get and better integrated for windows and OSX than for Linux : mplayer, vlc, vnc viewer with nice configuration guis, mozilla(s), rssowl, limewire, win2vnc
Member since:2005-07-07
a lot of opensource software is easier to get and better integrated for windows and OSX than for Linux
Besides possible Windows or OS X only open source software, I highly doubt that.
Practically all software for those platforms has to be downloaded somewhere and installed separately while you usually have them in your distributors repositories where there are - assuming a proper GUI front end - just one click away, including dowloading and installing.
But I guess if one is used to having to do all by your own, an automated and integrated solution like on Linux is quite a challenge 
Member since:
2005-07-06
Perhaps I should have used rats, instead. The problem is that anything that's extremely adaptable (biologically speaking) is innately hard to get rid of. We tend to classify these as pests. So my choices were viruses, bacteria, rats, etc... not exactly a dream list
With regards to GnomeFiles and KDE-Apps, I do understand the frustration, but I see those sites more as window-shopping than buying. When I see an app I like, I fire up the ol' package manager and install it natively. Repositories exist for damn near anything available in the online universe. However, it would be nice to have an integrated function where, when you right-click on a link in your browser, a context menu pops up with an entry to "Install link as package". This sends the link string to your package manager, which searches for the best match and automatically begins the install. Again, all native. One less step. Wouldn't that be heaven?
As far as de facto standards go, I wholeheartedly agree. But that's, again, not something that can be forced. Whichever distro has the broadest appeal and best capitalization will become, as you say, the BIGONE. The ecosystem of distros will still exist, with each one filling its own specific niche or dying of competition. Isn't biology fun!?!