Desktop Linux and compiling from source
I was browsing my Mastodon timeline and I came across a link to Kubuntu Focus Ir14 Gen 2 review: Using Linux instead of messing with it. It's a solid review of a laptop I’ll probably never buy, but I always enjoy reading about systems that come with Linux preinstalled. As I’m reading the article, I come across this part:
Is this what it could be like? Does using Linux on the desktop not have to involve compiling from source, searching for that one relevant forum comment related to a problem, wondering where the fault lies along the chain from kernel to desktop to repository to me?
I don't know the author, Kevin Purdy, but from reading his bio, he strikes me as an intelligent guy. I'm sure this sentence was written tongue-in-cheek and was meant as purposeful hyperbole. Either that, or he has had some bad luck with running desktop Linux. I say this because I can't remember the last time I compiled anything from source. If I had to guess, it would of been 10+ years ago when I was developing CrunchBang Linux.
This "compiling from source" comment also prompted a memory of a job interview I had many years ago. The interview was for a web development position and I was given the interview on the strength of my CV, where I must have mentioned I had some experience with using Linux systems. The only thing I really remember about the interview was the rather awkward moment when the interviewer mentioned my Linux experience, before informing me that he also had some Linux experience and had spent the previous night compiling all the kernels. I remember not knowing quite how to respond to his statement, so I just sat there in awkward silence. I mean, who compiles their own Linux kernels? Maybe kernel developers, distribution developers, and the odd enthusiast with too much time on their hands. I'm pretty sure my interviewer was none of these and so the statement just seemed a bit ludicrous. With hindsight, I now wonder if the interviewer was just trying to make conversation/banter?
Anyhow, back to the present and if anyone is in any doubt as to whether you need to compile any software from source in order to use desktop Linux, you really don't.