| |||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
KDE vs GNOMEKDE vs GNOMEPosted Nov 4, 2003 19:11 UTC (Tue) by dwalters (guest, #4207)Parent article: On Novell's acquisition of SUSE It'll be very interesting to see how the GNOME vs KDE issue plays out, since Novell clearly now have an interest in both camps. It seems that SUSE is the biggest distribution that supports KDE, and if Novell decides to switch to Gnome for the default desktop, it could be a bit of a blow for KDE.
(Log in to post comments)
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 4, 2003 19:48 UTC (Tue) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link] Or it can be the beginning of a merge between GNOME and KDE. The most likely scenario for the merge is creation of libraries that can be used in both GNOME and KDE and moving more and more functionality there. Both Ximian and SuSE employ hackers with strong influence in both GNOME and KDE communities.
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 4, 2003 19:57 UTC (Tue) by bradh (subscriber, #2274) [Link] A lot of base libraries are already used by both KDE and Gnome (and othersystems) - for example most of the XML stuff. Doing the higher level libraries is much harder. Glib/GTK is fundamentally different to Qt as an object set. The only way I can see this is one team or the other abandoning their technology, and while a few people might switch, a whole-sale swapout is almost inconcievable.
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 5, 2003 7:53 UTC (Wed) by Duncan (guest, #6647) [Link] Also, isn't Gnome written in standard C, while KDE is C++? That's a wholelanguage/programming culture difference, there! One other difference of interest.. While I use KDE on my desktop, I'm involved in PAN, the GTK based news client (not as a developer, yet.. but certainly as a regular on the PAN lists). PAN recently made use of the MSWormOS GTK libraries port to extend itself to the MSWormOS platform. That's something a KDE app could never do without serious costs involved, due to the license for Qt that's only free on the Linux/Unix side, but NOT on the MSWormOS side. I left MSWormOS behind when I switched, but there are potentially a lot of folks that could start their switch with apps such as Mozilla, OOo, and PAN, available on both platforms. That's a potentially large mind-share that gives Gnome a boost, over the apparently more popular in the *ix desktop world KDE. That too will provide an interesting catalyst if thrown into the mix with Novell perhaps helping to encourage a bit more liberalization of the Trolltech Qt license. As well, one can see where Novell would be wise to encourage it, as it could be a rather unpleasant pain in the side for them otherwise, given their MSWormOS platform mix at least presently. It could certainly prevent or discourage a lot of platform agnostic porting they might otherwise sponsor or at least encourage, if it weren't for the license issues. Duncan
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 4, 2003 21:17 UTC (Tue) by mdekkers (guest, #85) [Link] I can almost guarantee you that Novell will go with a merge of Ximian technology (read: GNOME) as opposed to maintaining support for KDE. Think about the events so far, and you will realise that there are few other options.They now own Ximian, and thus some of the key GNOME development force. That means they mainly own the desktop - the connector isn't very good since it does stuff the wrong way around, and the red carpet stuff can't hold a torch to the kind of management environment SUSE brings to the table. For those who not witnessed the awesome powers of SUSE's management framework: it blows anything out of the water. So that leaves only the desktop stuff as the key strategic asset that Novell owns in Ximian. Their support for KDE is probably going to be lacklustre to say the least, and good management sense (although I don't accuse Novell management to have any of that) would dictate that Ximian would serve the desktop duty, while SUSE would serve core OS duty. GNOME wins, and I am currently in the market for a good, stable, usable, but cutting edge KDE based distro. SUSE was the only one, and will never be the same. I think that Novell will probably start dropping the vast majority of packages that come with SUSE - SUSE is truly a massive distro, and the hundreds of bundled games (just to point out a particularly mission critical example) will probably be exit stage left soon. I don't think they will kill it off, but rather go for a "petering out" kind of thing. Finally, my main concern goes to the lack of commitment Novell has shown so far towards Free Software/OSS. Yes, they publish snippets and some bits and bobs on their site, but as far as I can tell, nothing major, and nothing that is not ultimately self-serving for Novell - all API's etc. to their own products. Let them OSS directory, or some other of their core technology, and I'll believe. So far, all the Novell success stories seem to have been how successful Novell has been in utilising FLOSS, rather then how good much they have given to the community. Novells corporate Mantra has always been "achieving customer lock-in through technology" and a quick but deep look at some of their products will show a tendency to "embrace and extend" rather then implementing truly open standards. Look at the iFolder stuff for example - all the hallmarks of WebDAV, but not really so - it is Novells *alternative* to WebDAV. I truly hope that I am wrong, but see a bleak future for the distro I love.
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 4, 2003 21:38 UTC (Tue) by vblum (guest, #1151) [Link] > Let them OSS directory, or some other of their core technologyOn Heise, there is a c't interview snippet with Novell's vice chairman Chris Stone (in German); he claims they were going to release an "Open Source Edition" of their "Nterprise Services." You're right - let's see...
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 4, 2003 21:57 UTC (Tue) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link] I think that Novell will probably start dropping the vast majority of packages that come with SUSE [snip]Probably. I expect a lot of stuff will be moved from the main installation discs to a set of "extras" (which is to say, unsupported) discs, or available via FTP only, etc. KDE might end up there too, at least in the US market. Software support is expensive, and from the point of view of a commercial software vendor the only software worth supporting is that which generates significant revenue. This would tend to work against software packages that duplicate the functionality of other packages.
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 4, 2003 23:28 UTC (Tue) by wolfrider (guest, #3105) [Link] > I am currently in the market for a good, stable, usable, but cutting edge KDE based distro. SUSE was the only one, and will never be the same.--You should try KNOPPIX. Debian-based Live-CD, but can be installed to HD if you have 2300Meg free. After that, apt-get to your heart's content. ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/knoppix/
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 5, 2003 8:13 UTC (Wed) by hingo (guest, #14792) [Link] I can almost guarantee you that Novell will go with a merge of Ximian technology (read: GNOME) as opposed to maintaining support for KDE. Think about the events so far, and you will realise that there are few other options.They now own Ximian, and thus some of the key GNOME development force. That means they mainly own the desktop - the connector isn't very good since it does stuff the wrong way around, and the red carpet stuff can't hold a torch to the kind of management environment SUSE brings to the table. For those who not witnessed the awesome powers of SUSE's management framework: it blows anything out of the water. So that leaves only the desktop stuff as the key strategic asset that Novell owns in Ximian. The No 1 reason to buy Ximian was certainly Mono. No 2 was Evolution and No 3 Red Carpet, or the other way around. SUSE on the other hand has just sold *KDE* to Munich for 32 million and will do so again and again when other german cities and the government catch up. They are not going to abandon KDE. But other than that, you are right. Ximian is *the* company behind GNOME, I doubt they will abandon that either. Right now the official party line seems to be, that they will actively continue to support all projects they have bought themselves into: "Novell is firmly committed to open standards and maintaining the existing open source kernel development efforts. From advocacy and development resources to events and support of open source efforts like kernel projects, XFree86, ReiserFS, KDE, GNOME and Mono, Novell stands side-by-side with the open source community. " (From the press release). henrik
Achieving customer lock-in through technology ? Posted Nov 14, 2003 0:01 UTC (Fri) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] Hmm... That's what SUSE did all along, you know (YaST). They published sources - so what ? This still is lock-in. So it makes sense Novell who plays lock-in games will buy the only major distribution which played lock-in game. You got what you asked for, you know: SUSE always was distribution without ability to create proper fork if needed and now Novell using it. Good thinking for Novell! You can not do it with RedHat customers. Not really - that's how Mandrake started. But Novell can and thus will do it with SUSE customers.
KDE vs GNOME Posted Nov 4, 2003 21:54 UTC (Tue) by elanthis (subscriber, #6227) [Link] They could also start phasing out GNOME from Ximian. I quite firmly believe they bought Ximian for Mono, Red Carpet, and Evolution, not the Ximian Desktop. Evolution works fine as is in KDE, Red Carpet may be ported to Qt in the future, etc.I'm not saying it will happen, or even that I think it's likely, only a possibility. None of us are going to know until Novell/Ximian/SUSE announces something. ;-)
|
|
||||||||||||