[sf-lug] Linux Distros and a Disappointing EOY Reflection of Same

[aaronco36]

Quoting Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com> from [1]: 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
... I have been putting a lot of energy into the PCLinux Forum an 
excellent place to deal with multiple problems and to try to help
solve them.

manjaro-kde-20.2-201203-linux59.iso
very annoyingly I have not been able to get the checksums on this file.
I confirmed that they are well hidden this AM.

The following files have been check-summed.

MX-19.3_x64.iso
MX-19.3_KDE_x64.iso

GeckoLinux_NEXT_Plasma.x86_64-152.201210.0.iso

rescuezilla-2.1-64bit.groovy.iso

NuTyX_x86_64-20.12.0-KDE.iso

gparted-live-1.1.0-8-amd64.iso

4MLinux-35.0-64bit.iso

q4os-3.12-x64.r5.iso
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhat related to newly-available distro downloads such as the above, 
the prolific "Linux geek by profession" Igor Ljubuncic's website 
'Dedoimedo'[2] has a more general section covering "everything Linux" with 
"extensive, step-by-step tutorials on how to install and setup Linux 
distributions in multi-boot environments, as well as reviews of said 
distributions tested on real, physical hardware" at [3]. Unfortunately, 
Dedoimedo hasn't covered at all Bobbie S's favorite distribution, 
PCLinuxOS, during the last year, and PCLinuxOS has barely reached the Top 
20 in DistroWatch-measured popularity over the same time-period (see [4]) 
:-(


OTOH, it seems that Dedoimedo hasn't been very much satisfied at all with 
*most* things Linux over this past year 2020 as well, as his article from 
2 1/2 months ago 'The Year of the Linux dissatisfaction' [5] poignantly 
reveals.

Fully quoting Dedoimedo's quite-revealing Conclusion from [5]:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My approach to software has always been product-driven, which in turn is 
needs-driven. I have had expectations and hope for the Linux desktop for 
many years, and so far, they remain unrealized. Alarmingly, the gap 
between reality and dream is getting bigger, hence my growing 
disappointment and negativity. If only things stayed like they were in 
2015. But things are worse now actually, because the competition is moving 
forward.

You could say I'm just ranting. Well, the market share numbers prove me 
right. The Linux desktop has not dented the Windows share in any 
meaningful way - and what it did is 90% all because of just one distro, 
you know which one. Well, physics tell us - if you don't invest energy 
into a stable system, it will not change. The distros have not done enough 
to address the glaring functionality issues that prevent wider adoption 
among Windows folks. There is no reason then why Linux desktop ought to 
flourish.

There's great fatigue in the Linux desktop world. It's not just me. Check 
the existing publications, check the online magazines (those that still 
survive). Check the popularity, the engagement, whatever you like. Even 
nerds are finding new areas to be excited about. I guess I should blame 
myself for being naive and idealistic and believing (not too zealously of 
course, just pragmatically enough), but hey. I learned.

Just like distro developers want to have fun, I want to have fun. And that 
means not reviewing software that does not make me happy. I will still 
keep testing Linux distros - so don't misquote me on that - but I will do 
it not just by focusing on average user needs, stability and consistency, 
I will also focus on my own fun. A brand new parameter in the equation! 
Maybe one day, the Linux desktop will rise again. Till then, I will 
conserve my happy mana. And curtain.

Cheers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Aaron


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REFERENCES
========================
[1]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2020q4/015110.html
[2]https://www.dedoimedo.com/about.html
[3]https://www.dedoimedo.com/linux.html
[4]https://distrowatch.com/index.php?dataspan=52
[5]https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-year-of-dissatisfaction.html
========================


aaronco36 at sdf.org