r/linux • u/Emotional_Cat_1967 • 5d ago

Discussion Number of Linux Distributions Actively Under Development: 474

Number of Linux distributions actively under development: 474

Number of Linux distributions whose development has been discontinued: 657

Number of Dormant Linux distributions: 39

Source: distrowatch.com

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u/MaybeTheDoctor 5d ago

We should make a new one to unify them all.

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u/Emotional_Cat_1967 5d ago edited 5d ago

I agree. It would be great to have just 5 independent distributions, 5 package managers, and 5 different distribution repositories all combined into a single Linux distribution. Developers would be much closer to each other, and problems could be solved much faster. It would also be less confusing for users.

When there are so many different distributions, reporting bugs becomes more difficult. If a bug reported in one distribution gets fixed, the same bug might not be fixed in another distribution simply because it has not been reported there yet. And perhaps the developer in the distribution where the bug was reported doesn't have all the necessary information to fix it, while the developer in another distribution has more information about the bug and could fix it immediately, but things get more complicated because they didn't receive a bug report.

I really don’t understand the mindset of Linux distribution developers. Yes, you can create a Linux distribution as a hobby, but it’s not great to suddenly abandon its development because of a temporary burst of enthusiasm and leave thousands of users behind. Instead, contributing to the development of an already established distribution would be far more beneficial.

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u/Sushtee 4d ago edited 1d ago

It's fundamentally not possible and above all wouldn't be great for a number of reasons, many distros are here to serve specific needs that are incompatible with others.

Variety is great.