Yeah, some things are getting standardized, that’s great. But many are not even on a roadmap. People still argue which init system is the best, lol. And don’t get me started on package managers…
As for compatibility, even if we forget about the apps, let’s just focus on some modern features. Multi monitor DPI settings work in some distros, but don’t work in others. HDR works in some, but not the others. DRM, proprietary tech, etc. Why the fuck things just don’t work everywhere?
Yeah people are gonna argue about everything, and the only way you can get them to stop is to take the choice away from them. Doesn’t sound like it fits into the principles of open source software, right?
Multionitor scaling and HDR are luxuries. Some distros are working to fix them, others aren’t. The good thing is though that once the code is upstream, everyone benefits from it. Even small distros that choose to run Gnome or KDE can just change a few config files to enable all the fancy things these projects provide.
Of course that doesn’t mean smaller distros are necessarily going to do that, they have the right to be different.
And this brings up back to the initial point: Linux kernel is good, Linux distros are shit.