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this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Any "why are there too many X's on Linux" (where X is package manager, desktop environment, init system etc) appear to stem from the silly assumption that there happens to be an already built operating system called Linux and all these people are forking it and putting in their own stuff for the sake of their own egos and nothing else.
When really, the answer fundamentally boils down to either one of two things: either it doesn't exist yet, or the existing solution fails to meet a need. Linux, itself, is merely a kernel; it didn't come with a package manager or desktop environment. Those things all had to be made by separate parties and there isn't always agreement on how best to do them.
As a Guix user, I believe the Guix package manager has advantages over "traditional" GNU/Linux package managers, as well as other so-called "universal package managers" such as Flatpak.