> Every Linux distribution is different
A distribution is just a collection of software to handle common needs. Most are quite similar: systemd, coreutils, glibc, dbus, polkit, pipewire/pulseaudio, and a DE, typically GNOME or KDE. You'll expect to see them on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Nix, Arch, or anywhere else except Void, Alpine, and Gentoo. The only meaningful difference is typically the package manager. We have more standardization in the Linux ecosystem then ever and equally as much bloat, both thanks to systemd.
> Surely it would be better to concentrate on fewer languages and make those more adaptable.
Programming languages are a combination of tools and notation. Different domains have different needs and preferences. We don't lament quantum physicists using bra-ket standard linear algebra notation. Unlike notation, there are material reasons to use one beyond clarity. Some languages support deeper static analysis, some prove complete theorems about your specification, some are small enough to embed, some are easier to extend, and some exist only within a narrow domain like constraint satisfaction. We can add macros or introspection to a language, but in doing so it will fall outside a domain that might value predictability or performance.
> Now take the huge numbers of programming languages out there
~> open langs.csv | filter {|x| $x.SOPercent > 0.25} | get Year | math median
1994
I took data from the 2024 Stack Overflow survey filtered for professional developers. The median release year for languages above 25% market share is 1994. The youngest serious language on the list is Swift, dated 2014. I don't think this is evidence of a growing number of programming languages.
See converted data below. The release year was augmented by o4-mini.
cat | cut -c3- | base64 -d | gunzip > langs.csv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==
A distribution is just a collection of software to handle common needs. Most are quite similar: systemd, coreutils, glibc, dbus, polkit, pipewire/pulseaudio, and a DE, typically GNOME or KDE. You'll expect to see them on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Nix, Arch, or anywhere else except Void, Alpine, and Gentoo. The only meaningful difference is typically the package manager. We have more standardization in the Linux ecosystem then ever and equally as much bloat, both thanks to systemd.
> Surely it would be better to concentrate on fewer languages and make those more adaptable.
Programming languages are a combination of tools and notation. Different domains have different needs and preferences. We don't lament quantum physicists using bra-ket standard linear algebra notation. Unlike notation, there are material reasons to use one beyond clarity. Some languages support deeper static analysis, some prove complete theorems about your specification, some are small enough to embed, some are easier to extend, and some exist only within a narrow domain like constraint satisfaction. We can add macros or introspection to a language, but in doing so it will fall outside a domain that might value predictability or performance.
> Now take the huge numbers of programming languages out there
I took data from the 2024 Stack Overflow survey filtered for professional developers. The median release year for languages above 25% market share is 1994. The youngest serious language on the list is Swift, dated 2014. I don't think this is evidence of a growing number of programming languages.See converted data below. The release year was augmented by o4-mini.