Xorg is a Bitch

X11/Xorg still disappoints me. Unless you’re an Xorg developer it’s almost impossible to compile it from scratch and set it up properly. Not to mention the fact that the code is too vast for me to care to poke around in. This means my uClibc + Busybox distro I’ve created for my older laptop has lacked a windowing system, and thus has been without GUI capability. It’d be nice to be able to view PDFs or open up Firefox every now and then.

That’s partly why, after 3 years, I was still excited about Y-windows, now the newly forked Dsy Windows. Built on top of SDL, it has the potential to have a smaller code-base than X and be much easier to install. However, tonight I discovered the Xynth windowing system, which seems to be further along than DsY, so my excitement has shifted. I’ve yet to get it up and running, but it compiles and more importantly, it doesn’t give me crap about missing rgb, font or xkbcomp files.

Distro Sprawl

It’s Spreading

The issue I’ve been thinking about over the past couple months is what I’ll call “Distro Sprawl”. It’s closely akin to urban sprawl, where small communities of cookie-cutter homes devour the landscape. Distro Sprawl endorses mediocrity and masks the true creativity that’s alive and well in the Linux underground.

Take a Step Back

Many distros are too ambitious, and too general. They try to include every damn application known to man, filling up at least 3 CDs. However, there are a few distributions that put the base packages on the first CD, removing the need to download and burn all 3 iso images. They deserve many chocolate chip cookies. I appreciate thee.

If you have the notion to create a new distro based off Fedora that “marries Xfce and Nautilus into a cohesive desktop experience” (like Cobind), please leave it as a notion. We don’t need any more distros based off the big 10 whose only boast is that they bundle different applications or provide a better user experience through pretty themes. Projects that lackluster should be left in the garage. As of today I will no longer provide links to distros lacking a worthwhile goal.

There are a few things that merit creating a new distribution, and they are listed here:

• Developing a better package management system: ArchLinux
• Exclusive use of Mono for all applications
• Using an alternate directory structure: GoboLinux
• Software routers/firewalls
• Forensics
• Bootable live-CDs … Knoppix is really all we need
• Data recovery and system maintenance: tomsrtbt

Targeted Distributions

Going further, I think there should be a larger distinction among the top 10-20 distributions.

SuSE and Mandriva should target mainstream multimedia desktop users. They seem to be the most user-friendly, have the best hardware support … they seem to “just work”.

Debian (and RedHat?) should be used for servers. Let’s not forget FreeBSD, Linux’s cousin.

Gentoo should target developers, since coders love to watch compiler output.

I don’t really have a place for Slackware. Wasn’t it the first distro? And wasn’t it commonly dubbed “the hacker’s distro”? Has Gentoo displaced it?