XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11, comp.os.linux.advocacy, comp.sys.mac.advocacy   
   From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Thu, 11/20/2025 11:07 PM, Brock McNuggets wrote:   
   > On Nov 20, 2025 at 6:11:59 PM MST, "Lawrence D´Oliveiro" wrote   
   > <10foe8u$3bld1$2@dont-email.me>:   
   >   
   >> On 21 Nov 2025 00:42:30 GMT, Brock McNuggets wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On Nov 20, 2025 at 4:12:21 PM MST, "Lawrence D´Oliveiro" wrote   
   >>> <10fo78l$39kk9$6@dont-email.me>:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On 20 Nov 2025 20:35:43 GMT, Brock McNuggets wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> And people aren’t complaining because choice is “unsustainable.”   
   >>>>> They’re complaining because too much choice means too much   
   >>>>> friction for folks who just want to drive without memorizing 40   
   >>>>> different ways to pop the hood.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Because of course they go to the Microsoft and Apple car lot, and   
   >>>> just pick from the limited options on display, and that’s good   
   >>>> enough for them, right?   
   >>>   
   >>> Have you heard of the Paradox of Choice?   
   >>   
   >> Have you been to a car lot lately?   
   >>   
   >> There is a reason why we keep bringing up car analogies in this   
   >> discussion: do you really think that having so many makes and models   
   >> available puts people off from buying cars?   
   >>   
   >> How do you square that with your “Paradox of Choice”?   
   >   
   > You can poke a hole in that analogy pretty easily. A car lot isn’t the same   
   > problem space at all.   
   >   
   > When you walk onto a lot, you’ve already filtered down the choices before   
   you   
   > even get there. You know your budget, roughly what size of car you want,   
   maybe   
   > a couple brands you trust. You’re not staring at 500 nearly identical   
   sedans   
   > and trying to compare every bolt and gasket. The options are wide, but   
   they’re   
   > structured.   
   >   
   > Software ecosystems – especially something like Linux distros – don’t   
   work   
   > that way. The choices are sprawling, uncurated, and often differ in ways that   
   > aren’t obvious until you’ve already committed. That’s exactly where the   
   > paradox of choice kicks in: lots of options, not much guidance, and no clear   
   > way for a non-expert to know which path won’t bite them later.   
   >   
   > So yeah, lots of car models exist, but the whole experience is built around   
   > helping you narrow down and feel confident. Most tech ecosystems aren’t   
   that   
   > tidy.   
      
   Hardly uncurated.   
      
   It's chained-curation, and a knowledgeable person can tell you   
   how many tree-herders have been at the thing.   
      
      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Linux_Dis   
   ribution_Timeline.svg   
      
   In general tree-form, you can see "upstream" is more towards the master distro,   
   and above that, is the developer providing active support. The active support   
   does not even need to be the original developer. Above Debian for example, is   
   kernel.org , providing generic kernels for usage (or for custom building from   
   source).   
      
   As an example, Linux Mint Zara   
      
        Debian ---- Ubuntu --- LinuxMint    # Both Debian and Ubuntu, build and   
   test   
                                            # Linux Mint "mostly consumes" except   
   for custom   
                                            # python packages for convenience   
   functions.   
      
   Or for Linux Mint LMDE 6   
      
        Debian --------------- LinuxMint    # Packages are from Debian   
                                            # This covers the case where   
   Canonical is no longer helpful.   
      
   The problem with Ubuntu, is their switching to SNAPs, which LinuxMint   
   does not want to use. While the upstream curation is useful,   
   it is less useful when it does not align with the design   
   of your distro (debs, synaptic/apt for package management).   
      
   For example, LinuxMint might get their Firefox as a .deb, straight   
   from Mozilla. The Firefox on Ubuntu is SNAP packaged. And Ubuntu   
   custom-compiles Firefox for fitment into a SNAP. Other SNAPs in   
   the snap tree, are submitted by developers.   
      
   Zorin also feeds from Ubuntu, and then it has to make the   
   same sorts of choices. To go whole-hog on SNAPs, or, to not use them.   
      
      Paul   
      
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