Lasse Christiansen has a Linux desktop dream. This lengthy opinion column at DesktopLinux.com provides Christensen’s perspective on Linux usability, application support, and more.He surveys the current state of the Linux desktop, reviews strengths and weaknesses, and suggests some improvements that would propel Linux onto more systems.
“Nothing can stop Linux now“, says IDC: Unit sales of Linux-based servers in western Europe this year will reach 182,000, according to analyst IDC, and the figure is set to triple, with revenues doubling to $1.9bn by 2007.
Elsewhere, PCLinuxOnline also has an editorial regarding Linux on the desktop.
I remeber vividly seeing a report on this in euronews(avaialable here in europe-a EU news agency) in 2001, which described the efforts of MS to combat piracy and then footage of raids by chinese government officials busting copying-rings and then the images of the execution. It occurred to me as I submitted this post that I have no clue as to how I could verify this report- and of course since I saw this-I doubt the footage is publicly available. I understand your concern about FUD-and dislike spreading word about things which I have seen- without being able to offer a concrete source(beyond euronews-which was probably a reportage which came from some other EU news agency…and of course the very vague date-ie.2001)-yet I felt compelled to respond to the post I was responding too.
I will state as absolutely certain-MS did engage in an anti-piracy initiative and this was also directed at China-a country known for producing incredibly large amounts of pirated media(software/films/music etc.) and that this was also a crucial component (ie. their acceptance of responsibility for and engagement in anti-piracy efforts) towards Chinas adminssion to the WTO.
I remeber the number 4000- but I will admit I am not certain as to the exact number, if even such a number exists…..and the exact dates are not clear…..
No desire to spread FUD- but people should remember that what is largely a joke in some countries is deadly serious in others…..
Thanks for the info. Maybe with some luck I can find a news site that has archived articles on the topic.
I don’t see why there are those that fear Linux will become a Windows clone. I really don’t see how making Linux into a friendly desktop OS means it will become a Windows clone.
For those of you who are of Linux doing everything automagically through some GUI and you can’t do things off of a console anymore..why are you afraid? Who says the config files would go anyhwere and that things still couldn’t be done from a command line.
Can one of the Linux zealots that claim people are trying to make Linux a Windows clone please explain their fears?
reg. gestreamer: from what i could see from the gnome mailinglist, it is still in it’s infancy because they lack programmers. there was a big discussion there if they should ship totem with the xine-backend instead of the gs one until the latter is ready, or even if gs won’t be ready if they should ship one player at all-excuse me…?!
They aren’t lacking programmers per so (though I’m sure they could need more help) but it wasn’t sure weither some important features would be ready for GNOME 2.4. However, things look quite good from what I could gather lately. I’m sure they will sort out those remaining issues in time.
The option to ship no player at all was just a possibility, nobody supported that AFAICT.
You really have to be careful what you read into developer mailinglist texts.
that’s another topic-should gnome 2.4 include eph. or galeon, or should it include none…
for folks like me, it’s really hard to understand where the major difference is between those 2 browsers (it seemed also a problem for many gnome-maintainers). again, the user might have to wait longer because of such internal fights!
It will be Epiphany. There isn’t really any fight about this, I don’t quite see your problem. Of course in an open world, it can easily come to the situation that the GNOME maintainers have to select between similar software. This is often a difficult task but not “internal fights” and trying to avoid those selections would be silly.
The situation with Epiphany/Galeon is quite simple actually. Marco Pesenti Gritti developed the original Galeon to be a lightweight and integrated GNOME browser. With Galeon 2, he attempted a major rewrite and redesign of the interface while he ported it over to GNOME 2 (with consideration of the new GNOME guidelines). However, the typical flamewars about “dumbing down the interface” arised and he was flamed, even by other developers who wanted Galeon 2 to be a straight port of Galeon. Marco, who was frustrated by this decided to quit Galeon and do a new browser project, instead of fighting with those in the Galeon team who now stabbed him in the back.
Thus Epiphany is more like the successor of Galeon, while Galeon 2 is more like a port of Galeon (which is now less of a straight port) with all its bells and whistles.
Those who don’t like a really simple browser and would rather prefer a geek-tool, will certainly stay with Galeon 2, but those who want a simple browser will certainly switch to Epiphany sooner or later (once it becomes more stable). Many already did. And maybe the remaining Galeon 2 developers will realize at one point or another, that a “simple” interface doesn’t have to be evil (maybe when Epiphany gets a plugin interface) and stop the duplication. Who knows. The great thing about the split was, that Marco could get really crazy with trying out new things (like the completely new bookmark system) without having to fight it out first.
Things like this are like you noted INTERNAL issues. It’s your own choice to care and read about them if you hang out at developer mailinglists and geek news sites. Don’t expect marketing speech and careful consideration of words at those places.
You’ll wittness the “raw and uncut” developers talk and this can include conflicts or even crisis. This happens everywhere, even at commercial companies of course, you will just never know about it.
nevertheless, still keeping the faith;-)
You should, great times ahead!
“Things like this are like you noted INTERNAL issues. It’s your own choice to care and read about them if you hang out at developer mailinglists and geek news sites. Don’t expect marketing speech and careful consideration of words at those places.
You’ll wittness the “raw and uncut” developers talk and this can include conflicts or even crisis. This happens everywhere, even at commercial companies of course, you will just never know about it.”
my point was not that i feel somehow offended that there’re conflicts at all, but that sometimes those discussions seem to be weird and off the mark from an endusers point of view.
see, the examples of gstreamer and eph./gal. were just examples where i think that a bit more keeping the needs of the user (who simply wants a browser and a tightly integrated mediaplayer) in mind would be healthy for the developers to decide what to do (keeping the big picture in mind sometimes helps to put internal differences back into the right dimension;-)).
on one hand, sure, many developers are doing it just for fun, and because gnome is free, means it’s not a classical customer-vendor-relationship, i might expect too much.
on the other hand, we all know that those projects meanwhile have become much more than the hobby of a few, but the backbone of a growing industry.
maybe i should blame the distributions which should provide the necessary shaping of things, but there it also gets confusing. redhat sees no market opp. in the ordinary desktop, but lindows etc. are clearly disagreeing…
and of course, if you don’t provide the necessary features (and much is really not missing imo), than there won’t be a market at all. and just imo, if linux won’t be able to attract the ordinary user, it might affect its longterm success in general.
so to make it short-what i’m currently missing is a dedicated and combined effort to make linux on the desktop a real finished package (except lindows or vendors, but those are too much windows-wannabe and too less dedicated to the community for my taste). not that i say that nothing is happening, but it could be more concentrated, faster and better organized.
but just imo;-)
I do notice the slow start up of apps like Mozilla and OpenOffice.org and I have a question and possibly a concrete proposal for boosting the perceived start up speed.
Once Mozilla or OOo have opened their first windows (the long wait) all subsequent windows are much faster. Is it possible to launch these apps in a “zero windows” mode? If it was, they could be launched on (graphical) login and be waiting for the user to request the first window. They would sink fairly quickly to swap so they wouldn’t take too much RAM when they’re not in use. Similarly, is it possible for the apps to be configured not to quit when the last window is closed but to sit in the zero window mode?
If no such options exist I would propose that they be added.
//some brilliant games (kolf, napoleans tomb), //
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHA
HAHAHA
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whew! Thanks for the laugh!