this post was submitted on 11 Jul 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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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It seems to have grown enough that software like Zoom, MS Teams, Webex and Teamviewer all have versions available for the various linux OSs. If the market was so tiny no software developer would want to release these and handle bug reports, and fixes. It would just not viable. So there must be enough of a base that this is needed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, I know there is a market, as tiny as it is. Imagine how much further along corporate software for Linux would be if there was a single format for installing all software in a default configuration for a fresh Linux install.

I genuinelly don't understand why Linus never develeped a universal installer like .dmg, .msi, .exe, for Linux.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

He was focused on the kernel, not the OS part unfortunately. Maybe Snap, Flatpak or AppImage will rise to the top for default install. For now I run OpenSUSE which has 1 click installer for rpms, probably as close to msi or exe there is right now.