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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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Have new distro releases become meaningless? (self.linux)

submitted 1 month ago by mfat to c/linux@lemmy.ml

78 comments fedilink hide all child comments

When I read through the release announcements of most Linux distributions, the updates seem repetitive and uninspired—typically featuring little more than a newer kernel, a desktop environment upgrade, and the latest versions of popular applications (which have nothing to do with the distro itself). It feels like there’s a shortage of meaningful innovation, to the point that they tout updates to Firefox or LibreOffice as if they were significant contributions from the distribution itself.

It raises the question: are these distributions doing anything beyond repackaging the latest software? Are they adding any genuinely useful features or applications that differentiate them from one another? And more importantly, should they be?

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[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

wouldn't think so. automatic upgrades is as essential feature for desktop systems, yet they are nit really here. I can't appear at the dozens of my friends (significant amount of them elder) to upgrade their systems every few weeks or a month, or when e.g. firefox gets a critical vulnerability fix

[–] BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Automatic updates are there with the right distro. Which highlights the need to look around for the right distro for the use case.

Example being Opensuse Aeon - automatic updates - doesn’t even tell you it’s happening, just pops up “your system was updated” out of nowhere

Automatic rollback - if an update broke something you would never know, at boot the system will pick the previous snapshot with no user intervention

As far as the user is concerned you just have a working system; that it is the entire goal of that distro

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 0 points 1 month ago

I've read about Aeon a few months ago, and it seems very nice, but I wish I would have jotted down what made me not consider it because all I remember is that there were a few