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Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) DesktopMeeks: Linux on the (consumer) DesktopPosted Sep 12, 2012 5:46 UTC (Wed) by khim (subscriber, #9252)In reply to: Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) Desktop by bojan Parent article: Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) Desktop
Sure, it would be great if we didn't have package format/tools fragmentation, desktop fragmentation etc., but fixing this is not strictly a requirement for having a successful Linux desktop. Yes it is. A serious commercial entity with real technical expertise, putting competitive (i.e. not dirt cheap) devices into people's hands is. This was tried in the beginning of the "netbook era". The whole construct went down in flames. Or do you mean “someone like Google in smartphones who'll impose its own standard WRT which libraries must be included”? That's one way of solving fragmentation issue.
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Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) Desktop Posted Sep 12, 2012 7:39 UTC (Wed) by bojan (subscriber, #14302) [Link]
> This was tried in the beginning of the "netbook era".
What serious company (i.e. with Linux/hardware engineering resources comparable to say Google) was behind this effort?
> Or do you mean “someone like Google in smartphones who'll impose its own standard WRT which libraries must be included”? That's one way of solving fragmentation issue.
Exactly the point of having a _serious_ player behind the effort. ISVs do not care where non-fragmentation comes from - they just want someone to stand behind it. And they want to see a continued, dedicated effort. None of the "today you can buy Dell with Ubuntu, but tomorrow you may not" will do.
Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) Desktop Posted Sep 12, 2012 7:41 UTC (Wed) by anselm (subscriber, #2796) [Link] This was tried in the beginning of the "netbook era". The whole construct went down in flames. Please remind us which »serious commercial entity with real technical expertise« was in charge of Linux on netbooks. The way I remember Linux netbooks is that the various netbook manufacturers put outlandish Linux distributions on them with no real support or standardisation, rather than have a mainstream distribution maker (i.e., »serious commercial entity with real technical expertise«) do the heavy lifting for them so the result might have had some legs.
Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) Desktop Posted Sep 12, 2012 17:10 UTC (Wed) by andrel (subscriber, #5166) [Link]
Yup. That's because the netbook manufacturers's strategy wasn't to get into the Linux market, but rather to force Microsoft to continue selling Windows XP. It worked too.
Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) Desktop Posted Sep 12, 2012 17:50 UTC (Wed) by anselm (subscriber, #2796) [Link] OK, but the hypotheses »Linux on netbooks went down in flames« and »Linux was only put onto netbooks to scare Microsoft« are mutually exclusive. If the netbook manufacturers didn't even try to seriously sell netbooks with a reasonable Linux, the »failure« of Linux on netbooks doesn't prove that Linux can't fly on desktop machines, because it still might if it was done properly.
Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) Desktop Posted Sep 12, 2012 18:11 UTC (Wed) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] If the netbook manufacturers didn't even try to seriously sell netbooks with a reasonable Linux, the »failure« of Linux on netbooks doesn't prove that Linux can't fly on desktop machines, because it still might if it was done properly. It absolutely will fly when “done properly”. Unfortunately it becomes more and more obvious that “done properly == done behind the closed doors without involvement of the community”. Which is… kinda sad. The only remaining question is: will it be done on basis of Android or are there other possibilities? Time will show us, I guess.
Meeks: Linux on the (consumer) Desktop Posted Sep 12, 2012 19:50 UTC (Wed) by boudewijn (subscriber, #14185) [Link]
"Unfortunately it becomes more and more obvious that “done properly == done behind the closed doors without involvement of the community”. Which is… kinda sad."
It becomes nothing of the kind. The various netbook's weird and ugly linux distributions were exactly that: done behind closed doors without community involvement.
The whole idea that "done properly == done behind the closed doors" is awfully close to the idea that "what this country needs is a strong man, not democracy."
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