[cumbria_lug] New distro advice

[Schwuk]

Ian Linwood wrote:
> I put it to everyone that imitation is EXACTLY what the Linux
> community needs to do. Look at what is popular and follow its lead.

Imitation, yes. Unfortunately, quite often that imitation takes the form
of copying the look, and forcing existing systems to act like another,
rather re-implementing.

> As an intuitive, user friendly interface, later Windows environments
> are excellent, as is OSX. But imitation must not exclude innovation.

This is what Gnome were/are trying to do (I can't comment on KDE as I'm
not a follower). Unfortunately, as with every other project, they're
dragging too much baggage along with them.

> This looks like what SUSE|Novell/RH, is trying to do. I suggest what
> would help a great deal, would be if Linus would decide that a GUI
> interface should be part of Linux and either KDE|Gnome be sucked into
> the Linux kernel standardising the GUI interface for Linux. This would
> guarantee a rash of Linux development by vendors and go a long way to
> making a Linux Standard environment.

I think making any GUI part of the Linux (the kernel) would be a bad
idea, and doesn't appear to be (so far) something Linus is interested in
doing. Replacing the kludge of X + Window Manager + Desktop Environment
with a simplified GUI would be a far better idea. Do we really need
network transparency for normal, everyday use? Do we really need all
those window and widget themes?

> Obviously United Linux has collapsed, which was hoping to realise this
> ideal. Someone with a core influence needs to embrace this kind of
> expansion, otherwise Linux will remain a hobbyist|geek OS.

Bruce Perens. UserLinux ( http://userlinux.com/ ).

Linux is far beyond the hobbyist/geek market, but it's a long way off
the desktop market.

Cheers,
--
Schwuk