I was thinking "Hasn't it always been?", and then remembered Redhat.
Debian shows that actually solving real problems well is a valid way to approach open source software over the long term.
I first got into Linux years ago, before Ubuntu really existed. At the time, Debian was really awesome. It solved the biggest problem at the time: installing, updating, and removing software on *nix systems.
By contrast, Redhat had rpms, but they sucked. I still, to this day, have a difficult time figuring out how to do /anything/ with packages on anything derived from redhat. What is up2date? what is yum? where does the rpm command it? why aren't all of these documented well?
I think ultimately the rise of Debian illustrates the conflict of interests that comes from certifications. Making your software easier to use makes certifications less valuable, after all.
Debian shows that actually solving real problems well is a valid way to approach open source software over the long term.
I first got into Linux years ago, before Ubuntu really existed. At the time, Debian was really awesome. It solved the biggest problem at the time: installing, updating, and removing software on *nix systems.
By contrast, Redhat had rpms, but they sucked. I still, to this day, have a difficult time figuring out how to do /anything/ with packages on anything derived from redhat. What is up2date? what is yum? where does the rpm command it? why aren't all of these documented well?
I think ultimately the rise of Debian illustrates the conflict of interests that comes from certifications. Making your software easier to use makes certifications less valuable, after all.