> A last unrelated point - I don't see why Linux distributions cannot standardize around a common repository Because there are enough differences between distr

> A last unrelated point - I don't see why Linux distributions cannot standardize around a common repository Because there are enough differences between distros that a lot of the software is packaged with different build options, configurations, file paths, etc. Keeping a separate repository of software that doesn't differ increases complexity of all the distros involved, requires more inter-distro administration decisions, and just generally generates more work than keeping them separate does. You've either got more-complex packages with multiple sets of configurations available, or you erase the differences between distros (which exist for some good reasons). The way things are, effort is duplicated, but only accidentally, when the decisions of two distros about a particular package just happen to be the same.