Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 00:00:10 -0400 From: Technical Information <tech_info@threespace.com> To: FreeBSD Chat <chat@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: The desktop apathy Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20010525235249.038f8dc0@mail.threespace.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0105252316300.294-100000@molly.telia.com>
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Sometimes I don't really see the point of this. Maybe my experience with Windows has been exceptional, but it works well enough on the desktop. The broad, easy availability of applications and the hardware compatibility can't be beat. Throw in a good X Server, and even the UNIX applications are just a telnet away. But did anyone out there really there start dabbling with UNIX (and FreeBSD in particular) because he needed a better desktop? If so, I'd be surprised to hear about it. Too often, the quest for the desktop seems to be motivated by "stickin' it to Microsoft where it hurts" and "they got it, so we need to take it from 'em." And with the .NET initiative, even Microsoft has conceded that the desktop is not where the revenue/control of the future lies. FreeBSD certainly has its strengths, but so does Windows. I don't really see why they can't co-exist. They do on my desktop, and I'm pretty pleased with the end result. --Chip Morton At 07:27 PM 5/25/2001, you wrote: >Hi all, > >Over the past few weeks there's been an increased amount of reporting in >various on- and off-line media about the failure of open-source OS:es on >the desktop. Eversince Ximian closed down, I feel it has accellerated into >an apathy amongst the open-source community. Now, everywhere I look I see >announcments that "company X is moving from the desktop to the server >market" (MandrakeSoft) "OS Y is too technically oriented, and is not a >viable option for desktop use" (Dell on Linux). > >This attitude surprises me. > >No open-source operating system has every had a market share >on the desktop. However, there has always been a drive in the community to >improve the viability of the OS on the desktop, just look at the KDE and >Gnome project that have been maturing by leaps and bounds over the past >few years (I still prefer FVWM tho ;) Now, I feel that this optimism has >been transformed to apathy. If I am correct, it is indeed unfortunate and >un-called for, there is still some miles to walk before we have 100% >optimal gui:s and environments, but did anyone really think that we would >have average home and office users sitting at *BSD or Linux computers so >soon? > >What do you all think? > > >To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org >with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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