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I think the idea with "too many competing technologies" is just fine. Do we want a monopoly? I for one do not. That is what Microsoft has regarding their hold on consumer's concerning their desktop. I for one prefer choice and change at a developer's whim. Why? Innovation and the freedom to innovate and invent. Not all ideas will be useful and I for one do not have to change just because a developer did. <BR>
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My machines run Ubuntu 11.04. Why? Because it is the last version of Ubuntu that offers Gnome2 OOB (that I am aware of) and it suits my needs. I turn-off notifications on major releases of the OS and do not do migrations just because it's April or October. I use what I use because it suits my needs. No discomfort or dissatisfaction here...<BR>
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The idea behind free software is that we are free to innovate and make a better product because of it. Take that away and we're nothing more than another Apple or Microsoft. YMMV but to each their own. I for one do find frustration in the recent convolutions of the DE market; but who says I have to embrace their change? I roll my own and like it that way...so to this I say (IMHO); compete and bring new technologies to bear in the free market of GNU/Linux. <BR>
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But then again, the desktop is on the way out...hand held and portable devices will rule the day. Their kind will drive the next decade and into the cloud. (I believe that's why Apple is suing over iPad patent infringement and why Google may be next after Samsung - they seek to own that market and be the next Microsoft). Less and less importance on a DE and more upon the UI that interfaces with cloud services. Be it browsers or what have you; small, thin and powerful (portables) will rule the development scene. This is where Linux will continue to shine as it already has...more likely I think it that desktops (and Linux as we use it today) will become a niche and specialized corner of the industry for those who are developers and content creators. <BR>
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Turning "Rant" to "off"......RinL<BR>
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On Wed, 2012-08-29 at 18:01 -0400, James Sumners wrote:
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The "Linux desktop" is broken. Always has been and, if nothing is done
about it, always will be. There are too many competing technologies
that change at a developer's whim for it to stabilize and advance the
way end users need. Notice that Valve is porting to Steam to Ubuntu
12.04. They're not doing that because they just happen to like Ubuntu.
They're specifically targeting Ubuntu so that they can provide
specific support for a known system. Sure, it'll probably work on
other distros, but they aren't going to support you in doing so.
Read Miguel de Icaza's followup to the article[1]. He was a core
member of GNOME. He now uses OS X as his desktop OS. He has a little
bit of insight as to why one is succeeding while the other isn't.
[1] -- <A HREF="http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2012/Aug-29.html">http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2012/Aug-29.html</A>
On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 11:15 PM, Cornelis van Dijk
<<A HREF="mailto:cor.angela0@gmail.com">cor.angela0@gmail.com</A>> wrote:
> Is this old news or did I just wake up?
>
> <A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/27/tech/web/apple-linux-desktop/index.html?hpt=hp_t3">http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/27/tech/web/apple-linux-desktop/index.html?hpt=hp_t3</A>
>
> Cor
</PRE>
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