Applications and bundled libraries

You really think that 25.000 applications can replace millions? No they can't.

First of all, if you look really closely, those aren't 25.000 applications. They're 25.000 *packages* - including libraries (who cares about those?), documentation, meta packages, maybe even development versions of packages (sources).

Secondly, you're forgetting about statistics and evolution. More variation and competition means there's a greater chance of success. Only a small percentage of applications are any good.

Thirdly, for each niche there are many design decisions. Out of 10.000 crappy applications for a certain niche, you'll have 100 decent applications, 10 really good ones, and 3 great ones, each having a different design philosophy (therefore you can't replace great application A with B or C).

Should I write my own "custom" application for everything that doesn't fit that tight collection of 25.000 "applications"? (answer: no, on Windows you find a tool already made for 99% of regular desktop activities)