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Thread: if all distros are based on one kernel....

  1. #1
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    if all distros are based on one kernel....

    If all distros are based on one kernel....

    If all distros use the same KDE and Gnome.....

    If all distros use the same version of Konqueror, Gedit, Dolphin, Nautilus, etc......

    Then how can they be so different?

    Also, let us say that Fedora is better with some hardware and Mandrake is better with others....and only Ubuntu can recognize some sound cards....how can that be?

    Aren't they all supposed to be using and sharing the same GPL code?

    I have seen many times in this forum where people say "no distro recognized my hardware until I tried xyz distro" and I am trying to understand this.
    If variety is the spice of life, monotony must therefore be the kiss of death.

  2. #2
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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    They are all configured differently.
    Some have more device drivers than others.
    Some have a modified versions of KDE/Gnome.
    It's all about which configuration is right for you.

  3. #3
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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    Most distros (except for a few) apply their own distro specific patches to things. This could be related to distro A not working with some piece of hardware but Distro B works. Also, not ever distro uses the exact same kernel version.
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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    But if distro A does sound cards better and distro B does WIFI better and all this stuff is FOSS, would they not incorporate the best features of each distro into each one and have two distros that are better than either one?

    Does that make sense?
    If variety is the spice of life, monotony must therefore be the kiss of death.

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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    Perhaps that would be easier if the developers got out of that 699 Mb budget mentality.

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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    Quote Originally Posted by pbpersson View Post
    But if distro A does sound cards better and distro B does WIFI better and all this stuff is FOSS, would they not incorporate the best features of each distro into each one and have two distros that are better than either one?

    Does that make sense?
    Too bad the whole FOSS community is ignorant and doesn't want to work towards a few good options instead upon the load of unneeded choices we have today.

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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    Quote Originally Posted by MilesRdz View Post
    Perhaps that would be easier if the developers got out of that 699 Mb budget mentality.
    I disagree, that 699 Mb budget mentality is what saves us all from 100 different text editors, 20 image viewers, 5 media players, 2 office suite and useless mini games like solitaire hogging up the system. I wouldn't mind DVDs if the distros would be mindful that redundancy isn't always a good thing.
    Last edited by dspari1; April 7th, 2009 at 06:45 AM.

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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    Quote Originally Posted by pbpersson View Post
    But if distro A does sound cards better and distro B does WIFI better and all this stuff is FOSS, would they not incorporate the best features of each distro into each one and have two distros that are better than either one?

    Does that make sense?
    because sometimes the devs of certain distro's don't send the extra device driver/whatever upstream to the kernel.
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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    Not all distros use KDE or GNOME, many don't.
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  10. #10
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    Re: if all distros are based on one kernel....

    Quote Originally Posted by pbpersson View Post
    But if distro A does sound cards better and distro B does WIFI better and all this stuff is FOSS, would they not incorporate the best features of each distro into each one and have two distros that are better than either one?

    Does that make sense?
    Yes it does, but the real-world isn't so ideal.

    Some hardware have proprietary drivers which some distros will not include by default. Some distros use specific flags during compilation of the kernel, or exclude some kernel modules because they cause problems or are inconsistent with the goal of the distro.

    An operating system kernel is very complex. There are many many modules, configuration options, etc. Some don't really play well with each other. Distros have target classes of users who are better served with some configuration options and modules than others. It all makes each distro somewhat different from each other. Being FOSS doesn't really solve those differences. Being FOSS can help reduce bugs, incompatibilities, and add more options to serve specific needs, but there will always be differences, problems, and so on.

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