I have now been running Linux for a few months with no real difficulties. Some things have been easier than others, but since the system has been up and running, I have not gotten myself into a situation where I could not be productive on my machine. Not to say I haven’t wasted a few hours on a project or two. I do like to tinker.

Now that I am running Linux full time, I occasionally get the question, “I want to play around with Linux, which distribution should I use?” To be honest, I don’t always know how to answer this question. I choose Gentoo because I get to custom compile all my code. I have played with Ubuntu (well, Kubuntu) on my laptop and found it really user friendly. In the past I have dabbled in Red Hat (Fedora Core now I guess) and Suse. If you check out Distro Watch you will find out there are over 300 Linux distributions from which to choose.

Which brings me to my question, “Why so many distros?” At the risk a being flamed (the Open Source/Linux communities can be very sensitive), I would like to suggest that we don’t need 99% of them. The Linux Kernel is quite stable, as long as you are not on the bleeding edge. What Linux needs now is utilities, applications, windows managers and administration that mortals can understand. Without this Linux, widely accepted Linux on the desktop (for example, my mothers desktop) will not happen.

Here’s the problem, I can learn everything there is to know about running Gentoo. But the minute someone asks me to help them with another distro, I have put on my research hat before I can answer. Every distro uses different runlevels, different directory structures, different config file, and different package structures. There has been a push to standardize many of these things, but it is obviously not being widely accepted.

The other problem is development effort being spread thin. Most distributions can be identified buy some piece of custom code that was developed specifically to make part of running part of that distribution easier. All these utilities and applications are distributed across many different distro, spreading out the development effort.

My argument is that if we reduce the number of distribution, and consolidate the development effort, we would get new and exciting developments that people haven’t even though of yet. These developments would lead to a more user friendly distribution.

The Linux community likes to brag about the performance and stability of the Kernel, and they have a right to do so. What Linux need now to make it more acceptable to the everyday user is to focus on usability and standardization. With major developments in these areas, maybe we could all start recommending Linux to our mothers.

I don’t know when it happened, but I’ve notice recently that the customer has gone from always being right, to being the unwanted. At one time they would even entertain you until they got your money, but these days it seems like that don’t even want to put the effort into selling. Maybe assuming someone else will come and not ask some many questions before buying.

A couple weeks ago, I though I might actually upgrade my net connection. Maybe get the new “Ultra High Speed” package. So, after calling my ISP (the local telco Aliant) around 7:30pm, and getting a recording, I though I would inquire at there store in the mall.

When I got there the first thing I asked was if they could tell me the details of my current package. “I’m sorry, we can tell you that, we’re not an Aliant store,” the man told me. I found this to be a remarkable answer. The only signs visible in the entire store said “Aliant.” I decide to let it go though and pressed on. When I asked if he could tell me the details of there current offering, his answer was again useless: “You can find all the information online.”

At this point I was ready to leave. So with a terse , “k,” I left the store and went to see a movie. What annoys me though, is for him it was mission accomplished. I was another person to be served by the web so he won’t have to. At that point I decided, if I couldn’t talk to someone about what I wanted, I could do without. I only wish he and all the other “service” people out there could see the lost sale so that maybe the customer could be “right” again.