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Linux Distros, these days especially, are a paint of coat and tire size difference between each other. You make it sound like someone running Fedora (a signific

Linux Distros, these days especially, are a paint of coat and tire size difference between each other. You make it sound like someone running Fedora (a significant slice of those in the "Other" category) is having a drastically different experience to those using Manjaro, Ubuntu and Pop_OS!.

MichaelZuo 3y ago
If that were the case then they could all pool together their documentation and help guides. But I'm guessing the reason they don't is because there are some non-superficial differences.
- dijit 3y ago
  year-by-year they are doing exactly this. I hear more often than not ubuntu users using the arch wiki for example because despite the package manager, lots of things are similar.
- deaddodo 3y ago
  No, the differences are purely superficial. Which is why they don't pool together. Your argument is like saying Lutherans and Episcopalians aren't both Protestants because they disagree on the meaning of the trinity, despite agreeing on 99% else. Most Linux guides do work on all distros, as long as you're willing to adapt for package management solutions and Desktop Environments (when applicable).
  - conradev 3y ago
    Superficial from your perspective, but likely not from the maintainer's perspective Debian caring about reproducibility matters quite a lot to some people, but not most, etc
    - deaddodo 3y ago
      You're just reinforcing my point, not countering it. There's very little experiential difference, being superficial at best. But governing body and community differences are chasmic, meaning the Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora communities have little reason to add information for other distros to their guides; despite the instructions being 99% compatible.
      - mikepurvis 3y ago
        Also visible in the popularity of the Arch Linux wiki as being reliable, up-to-date "how to fix it" instructions for common problems, regardless of whether you're actually running Arch.
        deaddodo 3y ago
        Not sure why you downvoted my response when we're agreeing; but yes, I fully concur.
        mikepurvis 3y ago
        Wasn't my downvote.
        jokethrowaway 3y ago
        That's the reason I started using arch and that's why it's the distro I used the most (moved to nixos now, though)
    - mikepurvis 3y ago
      Right, but most users don't care about that at all. Particularly for non-technical users who are only ever going to use the GUI frontend to the package manager, almost none of the underlying system matters at all. In a world that has almost completely standardized on grub, systemd, fhs, etc with major applications being shipped in container-like blobs (snap, flatpak, appimage) that mirror a Windows-style setup.exe workflow and then bypass the filesystem and package manager and talk right to the kernel anyway... yeah, if you're an end user, your distro choice doesn't much matter. Pick whatever has out of the box drivers for your laptop's trackpad.
- tux3 3y ago
  It's not that far off. Whenever I'm looking for distro-level documentation, I end up either on manpages (which are shared), or the Arch Wiki. And as a Debian user for many years, the differences are surface-level enough that the Arch Wiki is still one of the best resources with completely applicable answers.
- bhaney 3y ago
  I regularly use other distros' docs and guides for getting things done on Debian. I probably spend more time on the Arch wiki than any Debian-specific sites.
- slikrick 3y ago
  actually it's literally why I use the archwiki no matter what distro I'm on
- Gigachad 3y ago
  I don’t think I ever read the actual Fedora docs for anything. I just read the docs for whatever software I’m trying to do something with.
AdmiralAsshat 3y ago
Well, since we're talking about it... Given the popularity of Steam, it's a high-visibility, high-priority application, which means your distro may be running it in one of three ways: 1) A snap 2) A flatpak 3) Your distro's native packaging format (deb/rpm, etc.) So yeah, there might be a bit of variation there. I've already had a handful of problems on the Steam Flatpak on Fedora in which it's been suggested that I should switch to the RPMFusion Steam rpm instead, but so far I have resisted. The fact that Steam is a program that installs other programs means that it will frequently test the boundaries of the OS and package format's security models.
- deaddodo 3y ago
  Snap and Flatpak are both (theoretically) distro agnostic. That's their entire point of existence, to solve scenario three of your list. Yes, Fedora defaults to and prefers Flatpak and Ubuntu defaults to and prefers Snap, but you can install either on either distro and it should Just Work. In which case, distro-specific differences are an even further moot point.
  - sagarm 3y ago
    The steam snap hasn't worked for me.

MichaelZuo 3y ago

If that were the case then they could all pool together their documentation and help guides. But I'm guessing the reason they don't is because there are some non-superficial differences.

dijit 3y ago
year-by-year they are doing exactly this. I hear more often than not ubuntu users using the arch wiki for example because despite the package manager, lots of things are similar.
deaddodo 3y ago
No, the differences are purely superficial. Which is why they don't pool together. Your argument is like saying Lutherans and Episcopalians aren't both Protestants because they disagree on the meaning of the trinity, despite agreeing on 99% else. Most Linux guides do work on all distros, as long as you're willing to adapt for package management solutions and Desktop Environments (when applicable).
- conradev 3y ago
  Superficial from your perspective, but likely not from the maintainer's perspective Debian caring about reproducibility matters quite a lot to some people, but not most, etc
  - deaddodo 3y ago
    You're just reinforcing my point, not countering it. There's very little experiential difference, being superficial at best. But governing body and community differences are chasmic, meaning the Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora communities have little reason to add information for other distros to their guides; despite the instructions being 99% compatible.
    - mikepurvis 3y ago
      Also visible in the popularity of the Arch Linux wiki as being reliable, up-to-date "how to fix it" instructions for common problems, regardless of whether you're actually running Arch.
      - deaddodo 3y ago
        Not sure why you downvoted my response when we're agreeing; but yes, I fully concur.
        mikepurvis 3y ago
        Wasn't my downvote.
      - jokethrowaway 3y ago
        That's the reason I started using arch and that's why it's the distro I used the most (moved to nixos now, though)
  - mikepurvis 3y ago
    Right, but most users don't care about that at all. Particularly for non-technical users who are only ever going to use the GUI frontend to the package manager, almost none of the underlying system matters at all. In a world that has almost completely standardized on grub, systemd, fhs, etc with major applications being shipped in container-like blobs (snap, flatpak, appimage) that mirror a Windows-style setup.exe workflow and then bypass the filesystem and package manager and talk right to the kernel anyway... yeah, if you're an end user, your distro choice doesn't much matter. Pick whatever has out of the box drivers for your laptop's trackpad.
tux3 3y ago
It's not that far off. Whenever I'm looking for distro-level documentation, I end up either on manpages (which are shared), or the Arch Wiki. And as a Debian user for many years, the differences are surface-level enough that the Arch Wiki is still one of the best resources with completely applicable answers.
bhaney 3y ago
I regularly use other distros' docs and guides for getting things done on Debian. I probably spend more time on the Arch wiki than any Debian-specific sites.
slikrick 3y ago
actually it's literally why I use the archwiki no matter what distro I'm on
Gigachad 3y ago
I don’t think I ever read the actual Fedora docs for anything. I just read the docs for whatever software I’m trying to do something with.

AdmiralAsshat 3y ago

Well, since we're talking about it... Given the popularity of Steam, it's a high-visibility, high-priority application, which means your distro may be running it in one of three ways: 1) A snap 2) A flatpak 3) Your distro's native packaging format (deb/rpm, etc.) So yeah, there might be a bit of variation there. I've already had a handful of problems on the Steam Flatpak on Fedora in which it's been suggested that I should switch to the RPMFusion Steam rpm instead, but so far I have resisted. The fact that Steam is a program that installs other programs means that it will frequently test the boundaries of the OS and package format's security models.

deaddodo 3y ago
Snap and Flatpak are both (theoretically) distro agnostic. That's their entire point of existence, to solve scenario three of your list. Yes, Fedora defaults to and prefers Flatpak and Ubuntu defaults to and prefers Snap, but you can install either on either distro and it should Just Work. In which case, distro-specific differences are an even further moot point.
- sagarm 3y ago
  The steam snap hasn't worked for me.