What is the fascination with 'spins'

[monty19@ hotmail.com]

OK, here goes.  I'll probably have to duck and run for my life after this, 
although it's not my intention to upset anyone by any means.

Personally, I think having separate ISO images for Desktop, Developer, 
Server, KDE, and whatever else is a pretty silly idea.  It's one of the main 
reasons I don't like Ubuntu.  I run Fedora on a system I would classify as a 
server, and one I would classify as a Desktop, although some would seem to 
classify it as a Developer Workstation, despite my rather sincere belief 
that I am not a developer.  Reagardless of classification though, it takes 
just one DVD to install any systems I have.  That's just me at home with two 
computers I run Linux on; now consider those in an IT environment and how 
many systems in how many different roles they may be supporting.  How big a 
collection of discs is he going to need?  And if you're going to point at 
that individual and say he should be using RHEL, or something similar, then 
why have a server spin at all?

I like having just one CD, with the vast majority of what I want to install. 
  It takes me a few minutes tops to download what I want from Extras now, 
versus the many times that it took to install the developer packages I 
wanted with F7T1...

Now, I know it is a goal to merge Fedora Core and Extras, so here are my 
questions.  As of Fedora 6, it looks like the binary CD was ~3.4GB (going 
off of http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/)  That still leaves 1.3GB on a 
4.7GB DVD available for new additions.  How big is Extras?  Even if it is 
bigger than that, why not create one DVD to the fullest extent that you can 
with the most popular packages, and then create a second install disc for 
the remaining packages, more akin to the Solaris Companion Disc.  How many 
images are you going to release?  Two per supported platform seems better 
than what sounds like a whole lot more coming down the road...

I look at it this way; if you're going to download two ISO images, then why 
not download two that have all the packages you want.  Why download a server 
disc, and a desktop disc, which may both be lacking packages you want to 
install, and then are forced to download anyway...

I'm not saying that the ability to create your own disc with just the 
software you want is necessarilly a bad thing either; it's just that with 
the current route there are going to be a lot more people making their own 
discs, than downloading the ones created by the Fedora team, and then what's 
the point of releasing any at all?

I just can't help but feel like this is a less than ideal turn of direction 
for Fedora, not just for the reasons above, but also because it is going to 
confuse new users.  Which of the discs do I want?  What if I need something 
else?  Do I have to create my own spin?  Can I download it afterward?  
Simple questions for everyone here, but it's going to confuse the daylights 
out of people looking at Linux as an alternative to whatever they are 
running now...

Just my two cents, for whatever they're worth...