Bizarre little opinion piece by Miguel de Icaza proclaiming the death of the Linux desktop. A little excerpt:
“True story.
The hard disk that hosted my /home directory on my Linux machine failed so I had to replace it with a new one. Since this machine lives under my desk, I had to unplug all the cables, get it out, swap the hard drives and plug everything back again.
Pretty standard stuff. Plug AC, plug keyboard, plug mouse but when I got to the speakers cable, I just skipped it.
Why bother setting up the audio?
It will likely break again and will force me to go on a hunting expedition to find out more than I ever wanted to know about the new audio system and the driver technology we are using….”
Here’s my true story. I have a number of Ubuntu Linux desktops, and all are a joy to use. Ubuntu Linux has been fast and stable. The Unity interface is quite lovely (after some initial reservations). Software package installation is incredibly slick (and has been for years), and I couldn’t be happier with the quality of desktop applications. And I’ve never had a problem with audio support either for that matter. I switched from Mac OS late in 2007, partly because the money I was paying for the privilege wasn’t delivering in the areas where Ubuntu excels – and its ties to proprietary hardware (or beyond proprietary as Scott McNealy would say) generally make it a proposition for the well moneyed.
I’ve maintained hundreds and hundreds of desktop Windows and Mac OS computers in my time, so I’ve got a fairly good handle on the pros and cons of each, especially with regard to stability and ease of use. Is Ubuntu a superior desktop OS to Windows? No question. Even if Microsoft were to drop the price of Windows to zero (as if) it would still be an average product. Is Ubuntu comparable to Mac OS X, for common productivity and entertainment activities? Absolutely, especially in its current LTS incarnation.
So: I’m not sure where I’m going wrong, but Ubuntu has been nothing short of a fantastic desktop OS for me. The irony is that I don’t use it on the server, preferring Illumos/OpenIndiana due to a number of compelling advantages from its OpenSolaris roots. Why does the author feel the need to make negative comparisons to Mac OS? Why even bring up the old bugbear of Linux on the desktop at all?
I think I hear an axe being ground.
Incidentally, Google apparently didn’t get the author’s memo either…
http://www.zdnet.com/the-truth-about-goobuntu-googles-in-house-desktop-ubuntu-linux-7000003462/
