Dang it, last post for awhile, per usual am spacing off more important stuff to babble on pointlessly on a gnu/nix forum. Not meaning to argue, we're actually saying the same thing overall .... choice is good, diversity is good, alternatives and a wide selection are good. I don't even know why all the people assoc w all these great opensource projs do what they do. Where do they find the time, energy and generousity to keep things going ? Boggles my mind, though am not the worlds foremost expert on opensource. Will never claim to be, nor truth be told even wanna be. Don't want to invest that kinda time trying to be.
Couple obs though ( yes ... pointless, cause it's still a post on a nix forum that won't amount to much and only my take on things.)
There is a massive amount of diversity with gnu/nix imo. DE's/WM's combinations thereof, ( try the default, don't like it, takes a couple mins to install others and a couple secs switching between em. Not sure how ? Google or ask on a forum like this.) Usually 75 diff apps that can all do the same thing, massive differences and diversity. You have some gnu/nix projs that specialize in cutting edge, others that specialize in outdated low spec hardware, others that have something for everyone ( like LM for instance). It can boggle the mind and is mostly a fantastic situation for all the end users who have access to it. If you just want to watch youtube without M$ running your PC, no problem, if you want 36 multiboots doing this, that the other ... no problem, if you want to invest the time to find what works best for your situation.
Though agree that much of gnu/Linux seems to have common ground. Again if you're willing to invest the time to bother with it, or ya never wanna leave the GUI ( graphical user interface.) That's good too, your choice.
Thing about GIMP, think sometimes it's just not practical to have forks of something imo. Why would someone want to fork it or reinvent the wheel and spend who knows how long trying to come up with a replacement for something, when someone else already dumped years into making great software for it ?
Linux kernel ... believe bsd can work, might not be snap in. But for someone that wants a snap in alternative ... sure it isn't rocket science. I wouldn't bother with even trying to learn how to do it, the Linux kernel works just fine in Linux. Again reason why most distro's would never think about coming out with such a thing, is the dang kernels been a work in progress for 20yrs with a couple decades of talent and energy poured into it. Some distro's use distro spec patches or whatnot from what I understand. Then again, there are options for someone who wants a hyper space kernel, roll and compile your own, tweaked kernels and the beat goes on. Not something the avg person ( including myself ) will likely ever need or want to bother with when it comes done for ya on an iso.
Libreoffice is openoffice, when support for openoffice dropped some people picked up on the opensource and kept it going via LO. There are a ton of text editing choices out there too. A mainstream gnu/nix distro is likely to come with a wideeeeee selection of default software already installed, if someone doesn't like one app, a quick search in the repos and in 3mins ( or less ) they can be using something else.
Then you have gnu/nix elitest distro's like Arch or whatever, where very lil comes default cause its meant for people who know what they are doing/want etc. And it's left up to them what apps they want to install. Ya pop up in an Arch forum asking horribly nix newbish questions that you should've been able to sort out for yourself in 20mins on google, folks there are likely to tell someone RTFM dood. And imo ... they'd be right. We made this for x users, we make it clear that it's for x users only, newbs need not apply. Please visit the ubuntu forums until and/or unless you ever become ready. So forth, lol. Only Arch Ive ever tried was Archbang ( prerolled derivative of Arch/CB hybrid. Though do believe it has access to the AUR didn't spend enough time trying it out to really get the hang of it), didn't like it and think they aren't doing crunchbang any favors with what I tried. Pure Arch ... betting could be fantastic. if I want to spend 3wks configing this, googling that ... blahblahblah, when some great gnu/nix proj already has something that would work great in a handy dandy iso I just have to bother to install.
To end this pointless rant, choice is good, options and alternatives are great. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to use or choose from all this great software. Bit of googling, find something that looks interesting ... try it. Don't like it ... no problem, try something else out. Flip a coin ... summin. It's up to you how little or far into it you want to go. You want to watch youtube and go no further ? Have at it. Ya wanna invest the time and trouble learning more ? ... Great, proceed as ya see fit and interest or time allows.
Can only say, pick summin already. I think it's amazing what's been done with all this great opensource software. All us end users willing to experiment or invest however much time totally win. Bless the people who've done all this, all their hard work, sacrafice and generosity ... It's amazing, imo anyway. But doesn't have to be rocket science ... Flip a friggin coin if ya don't know what to do.