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What's up next in Linux desktop standardization? (DesktopLinux)
DesktopLinux.com covers the
Desktop Architects Meeting. "Over the past week, some of the Linux
desktop's foremost developers gathered together in Portland, Oregon at the
OSDL (Open Source Development Labs) Desktop Architects Meeting to work
further on bringing order to the Linux desktop. According to John Cherry,
the OSDL's Desktop Linux initiative manager, there was a good turnout of
about 45 developers from the community, including major Linux vendors such
as Novell and Red Hat, and ISVs (independent software vendors) like Google
and Adobe."
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What's up next in Linux desktop standardization? (DesktopLinux) Posted Dec 12, 2006 22:45 UTC (Tue) by quintesse (subscriber, #14569) [Link] Linux desktops and applications [...] should have a far more consistent look and feel across distributions and between KDE and GNOMEI think somebody misunderstood the goals of the portland project, which of course have nothing to do with look and feel and everything with having a single API so it will be easier to make things just work across different distros and DEs.
What's up next in Linux desktop standardization? (DesktopLinux) Posted Dec 12, 2006 23:38 UTC (Tue) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link] I agree, Portland project doesn't try to change look and feel of GNOME and KDE desktops. Thus "far more consistent look and feel ... between KDE and GNOME" sounds like a wrong conclusion. However, read this part:TrollTech's Qt 4.2, the primary KDE application framework, is also using Portland 1.0 to provide developers with tighter integration with the GNOME desktop environment.It sounds like Qt and possibly KDE applications will look and feel less out-of-place on the GNOME desktop. And it could work the other way around.
What's up next in Linux desktop standardization? (DesktopLinux) Posted Dec 13, 2006 22:55 UTC (Wed) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link] The Qt folks are integrating the glib event loop that sits under gtk/Gnome; I believe that 4.2 will be the first to ship it. The consequence is that KDE and Gnome widgets can be used in the same application and everything will just work, which is particularly nice for plugins.
What's up next in Linux desktop standardization? (DesktopLinux) Posted Dec 13, 2006 9:13 UTC (Wed) by ctg (subscriber, #3459) [Link] The emphasisis on "_more_ consistent look and feel."
Currently, if you are in a gnome desktop environment, you might get a completely different print dialog in, say, open office, acrobat reader, kword, abiword etc. In this case, consistency is about the ISV being able to hook into a standard dialog - so that file and print from acrobat reader looks like a gnome print dialog if you are in gnome, or a kde print dialog if you are in KDE.
The real debate is between the "open source/single repository" model, versus the "closed source/apps from anywhere model".
Currently, for Linux, consistency is provided by choosing open source applications from a single (typically distributions) repository. Where all the open source apps have been modified for that distribution/repository to provide a consistent look and feel.
In the Windows world, consistency is provided by single, standard functions/APis so that closed source applications, which can't be modified, will look consistent.
However, aside from the political aspects, neither of these models is perfect - inconsistency is rife on both Windows and Linux/UNIX desktops - so standardising in the way that this meeting is suggesting seems to be a good thing with benefits for both the open source/repository model and the closed source/multi vendor model.
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