Sometimes I daydream about when we might see the fabled "Year of the Linux Desktop". It may happen one day but I think fragmentation (as beautiful as it is) has stymied the critical mass necessary to reach it. So, I have this fantasy where a group of computer manufacturers decide to bring about the apocalypse by investing heavily in one Linux distribution. However, instead of building their own Linux distribution, they choose to set up a "winner-takes-all" Linux distro tournament for teams of developers. The rules are as follows:
Round 1 - Each manufacturer will test every distro on their own unique hardware. The distros that install flawlessly and quickly move on.
Round 2 - A group of inexperienced users will test the user-friendliness of each distro. Distros with the highest scores move on.
Round 3 - A group of advanced users will test for functionality and overall performance. Distros with the highest scores move on.
Round 4 - The remaining distros will be critiqued by a panel of digital artists who will select the one that is the most visually appealing for mass markets.
*In the event of a tie, manufacturers will consider the size and quality of each distro's existing user base, forums, and online documentation.
----------------------------------------------------------
The winning team receives $1,000,000!
----------------------------------------------------------
Now that is just the first part of my fantasy. I recognize that Ubuntu, Fedora and a few of the other "big" distros would have a huge advantage in a competition like this. So in the second part of my fantasy I imagine Linux distributions with much smaller budgets would need to pair up with other (somewhat) similar distros to pool resources and give themselves a fighting chance. Here are some of my pairings for the Ultimate Distro Team-Ups:
TEAM ABSOLUTE SLACK (Slackware + Absolute Linux)
TEAM BLACK EAGLE MOUNTAIN (Manjaro + Garuda Linux + Black Arch)
TEAM DEEP END (Deepin + Endless OS)
TEAM EL VOYAGE (elementary OS + Voyager Live)
TEAM GECKOPEN (OpenSUSE + GeckoLinux)
TEAM LITE FX (Linuxfx + Linux Lite)
TEAM MAGIC QUBES (Mageia + Qubes)
TEAM MINT (Linux Mint + Peppermint OS)
TEAM MX-TRUX (MX-Linux + Nitrux)
TEAM NEO KALI (KDE Neon + Kali Linux)
TEAM PARROT POP! (Pop!_OS + Parrot)
TEAM POLKA (PCLinuxOS + KaOS)
TEAM SOLID (Solus + Void)
TEAM SPARQ (SparkyLinux + Q4OS)
TEAM TOOTOO (Gentoo + Funtoo)
TEAM ZORT (Zorin OS + Tails)
From there my fantasy fades and I'm left wondering what would happen. I suspect the team with deepest pockets probably wins...but boy, I sure would like to see the end products that these teams might come up with. Wouldn't you??
Round 1 - Each manufacturer will test every distro on their own unique hardware. The distros that install flawlessly and quickly move on.
Round 2 - A group of inexperienced users will test the user-friendliness of each distro. Distros with the highest scores move on.
Round 3 - A group of advanced users will test for functionality and overall performance. Distros with the highest scores move on.
Round 4 - The remaining distros will be critiqued by a panel of digital artists who will select the one that is the most visually appealing for mass markets.
*In the event of a tie, manufacturers will consider the size and quality of each distro's existing user base, forums, and online documentation.
----------------------------------------------------------
The winning team receives $1,000,000!
----------------------------------------------------------
Now that is just the first part of my fantasy. I recognize that Ubuntu, Fedora and a few of the other "big" distros would have a huge advantage in a competition like this. So in the second part of my fantasy I imagine Linux distributions with much smaller budgets would need to pair up with other (somewhat) similar distros to pool resources and give themselves a fighting chance. Here are some of my pairings for the Ultimate Distro Team-Ups:
TEAM ABSOLUTE SLACK (Slackware + Absolute Linux)
TEAM BLACK EAGLE MOUNTAIN (Manjaro + Garuda Linux + Black Arch)
TEAM DEEP END (Deepin + Endless OS)
TEAM EL VOYAGE (elementary OS + Voyager Live)
TEAM GECKOPEN (OpenSUSE + GeckoLinux)
TEAM LITE FX (Linuxfx + Linux Lite)
TEAM MAGIC QUBES (Mageia + Qubes)
TEAM MINT (Linux Mint + Peppermint OS)
TEAM MX-TRUX (MX-Linux + Nitrux)
TEAM NEO KALI (KDE Neon + Kali Linux)
TEAM PARROT POP! (Pop!_OS + Parrot)
TEAM POLKA (PCLinuxOS + KaOS)
TEAM SOLID (Solus + Void)
TEAM SPARQ (SparkyLinux + Q4OS)
TEAM TOOTOO (Gentoo + Funtoo)
TEAM ZORT (Zorin OS + Tails)
From there my fantasy fades and I'm left wondering what would happen. I suspect the team with deepest pockets probably wins...but boy, I sure would like to see the end products that these teams might come up with. Wouldn't you??
Last edited: