[Tfug] Alan Cox: "I've had enough"--what else is new?

[Bowie J. Poag]

Glen Pfeiffer wrote:
> What I surmise from most of your posts on this subject, is that 
> you think Linux/BSD is dead because it has not and nor does it in 
> your opinion have a chance of taking over the desktop OS market.
>
>   
Hi Glen!

Has free Unix reached its zenith when it comes to usefulness? Yes. 
Everyone knows about it, knows where to get it, and it's been around 
long enough that whatever major developments thatwere to grow from its 
soil have already grown, and born fruit. And yes, I know this statement 
is wonderfully "No one will ever need more than 640K", and I hope i'm 
wrong, but... I'd say there is nothing _new_ that will ever come from 
free Unix that cannot come from what's already out there, non-free.

I've said before that I think we're now in a post-Linux era. That's part 
of it. It's taken us until now to understand that GNOME and KDE will 
never stop doing what they're doing, and as a result, there will never 
be a viable, commercially-acceptable Linux desktop. It would be easier 
to start from scratch than it would be to get the boat to turn around.

The question then becomes, what free Unixes are out there that don't 
have the GNOME and KDE handicap? *ding*, OS X.


> Does that not suggest that one of your reasons for being involved 
> with Linux/BSD was because you thought it would win the desktop 
> OS war? If so, then were you not at one time part of the same 
> faction that you now disparage? Are you now not doing the same 
> thing just in a different camp? 
>   

Well, I got involved because I wanted there to be an eventual end to it, 
where Linux *would* have a sustainable desktop market share. What GNOME 
and KDE engadge in essentially ensures that it will never happen.
> I do not know anyone on the list that uses Linux/BSD because they 
> hope it will win the war. Those that I know, along with myself, 
> use it because we like it and because it is FOSS. We do not care 
> about the desktop OS war.
>   
Some people whip themselves for enjoyment. Similarly, some people use 
Linux. Using Linux these days requires a commitment that everything 
you're doing will mysteriously break following an update. As far as I 
know, Linux is pretty much unique in this category. People used to make 
fun of Windows for breaking without warning..The shoe's on the other 
foot these days. I dont recall losing my entire GUI following a kernel 
update in Windows. The snake eats its tail....

> I welcome technical discussions comparing features of Linux, BSD, 
> OpenSolaris, Darwin, etc, as I am sure does most of the list. But 
> arguments about which one will win the war are not fruitful.
>   
The war was already won the day someone took a free Unix, and set a 
standard for its look and feel. That happened at Apple about 8 years ago.

The Linux community is full of great people lugging around the village's 
goods in carts with square wheels, bickering about how to improve them 
--- add more square wheels or switch to triangular ones. You're better 
off going to a different village than you are trying to convince the 
villagers they're wasting their time.

Cheers,
Bowie