| author | Cassidy James Blaede |
|---|---|
| author-link | https://cassidyjames.com |
Red Hat's Adam Jackson put it nicely:
As a consumer, yes, you have lots of choices in which Linux you use. This does not mean Linux is in any sense about choice, any more than because there are so many kinds of cars you can buy that cars are about choice.
This was even turned into a bit of a meme site that inspired the original version of this website!
Then again…
The above was from a bit of a rant on a mailing list discussing low-level decisions that are being made by Linux distributions. When it comes to the end user, sure, “Linux” can be about choice: the freedom to choose and install any of the plentiful options of Linux-based operating systems available.
However, that doesn't mean that any particular Linux-based OS, desktop environment, ecosystem, or even app needs to offer any "choice" inherently whatsoever. Just as a user is free to choose to use a specific thing, the developer of that thing is free to choose what to implement.