OSNews: The Paradox of Choice
Sep 19, 2004, 01:00 (17 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Adam Scheinberg)
"Certainly, the word 'Linux' refers to a kernel. I believe, much
like the old confederate flag, insistance on what it really is
means little when most people perceive it as something else.
'Linux,' that is, what it means to most of the word, is a complete,
rapidly developing, open source operating system. Each distribution
provides a mostly unique spin on it, and generally, most people's
perception of Linux is actually the spice added by their selected
distribution. Some people think Gnome is Linux, some KDE, still
others XFCE or Windowmaker. As a result, unsurprisingly, the
choices a distribution maintainer makes affect not only their
users, but the perception of Linux as a whole.
"If you ask me, I'll tell you straight out: I'm all for removal
of choice from Linux. Choice is generally good, but too much
choice, and worse, uninformed choice, is bad..."
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