01-17-2016, 08:31 PM
@chke419,
Beginner-friendly distros like LL are created with the "average" computer user in mind. "Average" meaning people who use a computer for basic things like web surfing, storing/viewing photos, listening to music, watching movies, creating the occational spreadsheet or document, etc. (Plenty of others also use LL, including people with many years of Linux experience. But they are not the target audience so to speak.) Most average users are not very technically inclined and don't want to have to tinker with things to get them to work. They may be very proficient at using programs that they are accustomed to, but many won't be particularly knowledgeable about installing/re-installing OS's, partitioning drives, installing and learning new software, etc.
To alleviate as much stress as possible, LL and others like it will typically include software that is mature, well-supported, has broad appeal, and easy to use. That way newcomers can usually be up and running and be able to do 75% or more of what they want to do with a only a minimal learning curve at first. For example, LL provides four (off the top of my head) very popular programs that many people are already familiar with in the Windows world: Firefox, Thunderbird, VLC Media Player and LibreOffice. They work the same way in Linux that they do in Windows. There's no learning curve and people will immediately feel some level of comfort with their new OS. In time, as they get used to the system and how it works, they will learn more, try out other software and further tweak the system as needed.
You may not want/need any software pre-installed. You may think of them as "bloat". But you are not the common user being targeted. For every one of you there are probably 50-100 people who are very happy to have the software that is included.
There are literally thousands of software packages available in repositories for installation. Most of them have strange names that give no clue as to their function. Expecting someone unfamiliar with Linux to start with a bare-bones install, requiring them to sift through and figure out which weirdly-named software packages are needed, would not go over well. They'd last maybe 10 minutes before giving up and vowing never to look at Linux again.
Beginner-friendly distros like LL are created with the "average" computer user in mind. "Average" meaning people who use a computer for basic things like web surfing, storing/viewing photos, listening to music, watching movies, creating the occational spreadsheet or document, etc. (Plenty of others also use LL, including people with many years of Linux experience. But they are not the target audience so to speak.) Most average users are not very technically inclined and don't want to have to tinker with things to get them to work. They may be very proficient at using programs that they are accustomed to, but many won't be particularly knowledgeable about installing/re-installing OS's, partitioning drives, installing and learning new software, etc.
To alleviate as much stress as possible, LL and others like it will typically include software that is mature, well-supported, has broad appeal, and easy to use. That way newcomers can usually be up and running and be able to do 75% or more of what they want to do with a only a minimal learning curve at first. For example, LL provides four (off the top of my head) very popular programs that many people are already familiar with in the Windows world: Firefox, Thunderbird, VLC Media Player and LibreOffice. They work the same way in Linux that they do in Windows. There's no learning curve and people will immediately feel some level of comfort with their new OS. In time, as they get used to the system and how it works, they will learn more, try out other software and further tweak the system as needed.
You may not want/need any software pre-installed. You may think of them as "bloat". But you are not the common user being targeted. For every one of you there are probably 50-100 people who are very happy to have the software that is included.
There are literally thousands of software packages available in repositories for installation. Most of them have strange names that give no clue as to their function. Expecting someone unfamiliar with Linux to start with a bare-bones install, requiring them to sift through and figure out which weirdly-named software packages are needed, would not go over well. They'd last maybe 10 minutes before giving up and vowing never to look at Linux again.
Try Linux Beginner Search Engine for answers to Linux questions.