Why are there so many different linux distributions and how do they really differ from the users perspective?
In: Technology
Anyone can make one, so there are as many distros as there are opinionated admins who have a specific idea of how it should be done.
Sometimes they’re goal-focused. There are plenty of distros that are set up so that, right out of the gate, they support some particular task or need. Scientific Linux, for example, was designed to be a common linux for lab work, to make it easier to share results.
RHEL, arguably the most popular “enterprise” Linux is designed to be internally compatible through it’s whole lifecycle, so if you deploy on RHEL9, you can patch with relatively little fear that regular patch cycles will break your applications.
Ubuntu is designed to be the most user-friendly, with the sort of out of the box GUI support and compatibility features that desktop users need.
The main difference (imho) is how packages are handled. You’re either building from source, or you’re using a package manager like RPM or DPKG. People have incredibly strong opinions about this, but really it’s just what you’re comfortable with. Second to that, you’re talking release cycles and patch availability. And finally, just out-of-the-box functionality. Some linuxes have more, and some have less, and that weighs with people who don’t want to have to spend a lot of time on customization.
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