Sometimes I daydream about the “Year of the Linux Desktop”. It may happen one day but I think fragmentation has prevented it. So, I have a fantasy where group of computer manufacturers (Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc) decide to abandon Windows & Chrome OS. They collaborate to identify one Linux OS that they can get behind to market around the world. To do so, they set up a “winner-take-all” Linux distro competition. Their objectives are simple. Find a distro that is:
a. easy to install on a broad spectrum of desktops/laptops/tablets
b. comes with only one Desktop Environment
c. polished and visually attractive
d. intuitive upon startup and easy to navigate for inexperienced users
e. highly reliable.
The manufacturers will also be taking into consideration each distro’s existing user base, forums, and online documentation. Teams will be given one year to prepare.
With all that said, we know that every distro has a few drawbacks. And many of the lesser-known distros would struggle to meet the competition requirements. So, I’d like to see distro developers pool their resources and merge with other (somewhat) similar distros to foster more competition against the official flavors of Ubuntu. Here are some of my pairings for Ultimate Distro Team-Ups :
Deepin + Endless OS
elementary OS + Voyager Live
Fedora + Mageia (+ Qubes)
Gentoo + Funtoo
KDE Neon + Kali Linux
Linuxfx + Linux Lite
Linux Mint + Peppermint OS
Manjaro + Garuda Linux (+ Black Arch)
MX-Linux + Nitrux
OpenSUSE + GeckoLinux
PCLinuxOS + KaOS
Pop!_OS + Parrot
Slackware + Absolute Linux
Solus + Void
SparkyLinux + Q4OS
Zorin OS + Tails
From there my fantasy fades and I’m left wondering what would happen. I suspect the deep pockets of Ubuntu or Fedora would probably predetermine the results…but, boy, I sure would like to see what all the teams come up with.
We can all agree that Ubuntu and Fedora are extremely well funded projects but there are also a few you mentioned that also have a steady cash flow and their pockets are pretty deep too and that’s Linux Mint, Elementary and Manjaro. I see a powerful concept idea that Linux Mint and Elementary team up and produce something. They both have funding and what I think is also really important is both have an amazing user base. Merge both user bases with one outstanding project and that brings more funding and so on goes. I can see Manjaro being financially backed one day by let’s say Lenovo or Dell and the concept of that could easily rival Fedora or Ubuntu. Lot’s of great ideas and I really enjoyed your posting, thanks for the good read this morning.
And what do you think about the fact that the “Year of the Linux Desktop” comes differently than you expected? But much more exciting and colorful. I mean that there will be no compulsion to sort out certain Linux distros. The needs and expectations of the users are different.
With the UserLAnd App https://userland.tech users may have the possibility in the future to start the Linux distro that is best suited for the task at hand. I have been testing the UserLAnd app for the last few weeks. I did not get to test Kali and Alpine Distros. But a little more extensively Ubuntu and Debian and in addition GIMP and LibreOffice.
I am thrilled. My smartphone Samsung Galaxy Note 10 has a docking station and on a normal screen with keyboard and mouse I have a user experience with Linux Distros under UserLAnd as if I am at a normal desktop workstation.
There are a few hurdles when it comes to running an internet browser under Userland. And LibreOffice under Debian does not run smoothly. But these are certainly bugs that can be fixed.
And then with UserLAnd, users have not one or two, but many more Linuxes to choose from. Just like people choose different car models, they can test different Linux distros and then use the distro that fits the task at hand.