Explain Linux controversies to me
I'm one of those mythical Linux users who has been using it for years but has little to no idea what's going on behind the scenes or under the hood. In my time using it, I've sort of passively...
I'm one of those mythical Linux users who has been using it for years but has little to no idea what's going on behind the scenes or under the hood.
In my time using it, I've sort of passively gleaned that certain things are controversial, but I don't necessarily know why. It's also hard for me to know if these are just general intra-community drama/bikeshedding, or if these are actually big, meaningful issues.
If you're someone who's in the know, here's your chance to lay out a Linux controversy in a way that's understandable by someone like me, who can't tell you why people always make "GNU/Linux" jokes for some reason whenever people mention "Linux."
Here are some things that have pinged for me as controversial in my time using Linux:
- Unity
- Canonical
- Deepin
- systemd
- Arch
- GNOME
- Manjaro
- Kali
- Rust in the kernel
- elementaryOS
- Linus Torvalds
- Snaps
- Wayland
- Something about a university being banned from contributing to Linux
- NVIDIA drivers
- Package managers vs. Snaps/Flatpaks
There are certainly more -- these are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.
Replies don't have to be limited to the above topics. I'm interested in getting the lay of the land about any Linux controversy.
IMPORTANT
This topic is intended for learning, not bickering.
- Please try to explain a controversy as fairly as you can.
- Please try to not re-ignite a flame war about a specific controversy.
It's fine to discuss these in good faith, but I do not want this topic to become yet another Linux battleground online. There are plenty of those already!