[muuh-gnu]

> But what is the alternative to a non-distributions based gnu linux operating system?

A small core set of libraries that change _very_ slowly and arent intentionally obsoleted every few months. Think of Windows like slow, stable and supported for a decade. Distribution of apps decoupled from the distribution of the base. Never make an app update trigger a lib update.

> How do you manage the 1000 packages and their libraries and dependencies?

You dont do that at all. Developers to that themselves like they do on Windows and OSX. Every dev packages his own app and puts it either into the App store or distributes it himself. You manage only the libs and dont allow them to change fast or in an uncoordinated, chaotic way.

> What you're saying basically is that linux is failed.

From the point of a normal user, yes. For a normal user, it is not an option. Everybody I personally know who tried it, went back. The main reason for most of them was the insanity of application management. (And lack of hardware drivers and games, but thats not Linux' fault.)

> since I cant see another way to distribute and manage the massive amount of packages that sit on gnu.org.

Decouple libs and apps. Dont change APIs and lib versions every few months. Make the base a very reliable and slow moving target. Dont force anybody to change everything every few damn months.

> It is my opinion that the one who solves these problem is in for a lot of business-opportunities.

The problem is already solved, at least under Windows and OSX. Thats why Windows and OSX get all the desktop business and Linux gets none.

[dvogel]

> A small core set of libraries that change _very_ slowly and arent intentionally obsoleted every few months. Think of Windows like slow, stable and supported for a decade. Distribution of apps decoupled from the distribution of the base. Never make an app update trigger a lib update.

This is the idea of the linux standard base. The concept was developed over a decade ago and it has failed to show real fruit.

> You dont do that at all. Developers to that themselves like they do on Windows and OSX. Every dev packages his own app and puts it either into the App store or distributes it himself. You manage only the libs and dont allow them to change fast or in an uncoordinated, chaotic way.

You can already do this with the package management systems. For example, each game in the humble indie bundle installs into it's own /opt directory, with it's own private copies of it's dependencies. It uses the package management system to hook into desktop menu updates, etc. As a user, it's been a nightmare for me. Half of the games don't run at all and I'm at a loss for how to fix them or get replacement libraries.

[maxerickson]

I was always surprised that no one made something like "The Linux Binary Platform 2003" and then kept it up to date, maybe releasing another one later.

At the very least, developers used to Windows would understand the dynamics of it (which is probably a good idea if attracting commercial development is a goal).

I would say it is quite a bit less ambitious than something like the linux standard base.

[flomo]

It's been proposed at various times in various ways. It's largely a competitive issue - the for-profit mechanism boils down to selling "certified" enterprise configurations, so there's little intrest in making the platform even more commodified than it already is.