Linux Users Divided. Why

[yester64]

Hi,
i noticed for a long time that a lot of users in the community are more divided than united.
Mostly i notice this if the topic come on mono or distro's.

Personally i think that is sad. I always felt that people should be united because we are all using the same engine, the same software.

Are linux users really divided over these issues or is it just diversity.
Bashing over Microsoft or Apple seem to be normal, but even that is sad.

Well, that how i feel it is. Maybe i am wrong.

[lostinxlation]

it's just a 'mine is better' game..

[the yawner]

It's just diversity. Diversity is good.

[smellyman]

human nature....

my city is better than yours....but then my county is best and all the people in the county untie, then state/province/....country etc.

[Phrea]

my city is better than yours.

No, it isn't.

[Legendary_Bibo]

it's just a 'mine is better' game..

This.

It's just competition, linux doesn't want to compete against windows or apple because the linux community doesn't care. They do like competing against each other though, it helps strive to be better to see who has a development or user populace.

[chessnerd]

You are not wrong. This does happen here.

The things that divide us are many, and we create more artificial divisions ever day. Every fence has two sides, and people build a lot of fences.

I have seen progress though. Since I joined the forums last April, the distro/Windows bashing seems to have lightened up a bit. The Mono thing is still pretty heated, but then again, it is a relatively new discussion.

All groups have their disputes. All members of all communities have heated debates, and even downright arguments. It happens in towns, schools, families, and even online forums.

But I have also seen a good side to this community. A side that shows up when a member is in need, and members lend their support unconditionally. People just want to lend help and kind words because something happened to one of our brothers or sisters. It doesn't matter if they were arguing about Mono the day before, or if the person uses Ubuntu or another distro.

We have our differences, and we have our divisions, but I don't think we are a "divided" community. We are just a community.

[kaldor]

If Linux users were united, distros and forks would be unheard of.

[Legendary_Bibo]

If Linux users were united, distros and forks would be unheard of.

forks? like utensils? I have a very limited terminology for linux

[chessnerd]

forks? like utensils? I have a very limited terminology for linux

A "fork" is when a group of users/developers decide to create their own version of a Linux distribution that is based on an existing distro. It is called a fork because it is like a fork in a tree. There is a split from the main branch, but it is still from the same branch. In other words, it's a new distro, but it isn't original.

For example, Ubuntu is a fork of Debian. Debian was around for a long time (since 1994!) and, in 2004, when the Ubuntu team started to work on their OS, they chose to base Ubuntu on Debian. So, they took the Debian distro, and then added their own stuff to it. Soon, they had a distribution that was based on Debian, but wasn't Debian. Later, distros like Linux Mint did the same thing to Ubuntu.