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This shouldn't be an issue on a free and open operating system, like Linux. Profit isn't a driver for LibreOffice or Blender, but these apps are still siloed of

This shouldn't be an issue on a free and open operating system, like Linux. Profit isn't a driver for LibreOffice or Blender, but these apps are still siloed off from each other. I think the author is right in that if the operating system offered both a richer and simpler set of tools to make it easier to add OS components and to communicate between applications, we could really see some interesting stuff. Personally, I do find the idea of an operating system composed of services and applications that all share the same messaging statement compelling.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago
Profit is definitely a driver for much open-source software, Google pushes Android so they can control mobile advertising, Oracle pushes Java to stop Microsoft having a stranglehold on corporate development, RedHat pushes Linux so it can sell services. There aren't many big open source projects that are purely altruistic.
- cmiles74 9y ago
  For sure there are projects that are driven by dollars, but many that are not... If we're going to get a desktop environment with the level of openness that the OP would like, I do think this would be a job for libre developers as it is fundamentally at odds with the pursuit of dollars via lock-in (that is, every app would be increasing the value of the OS and sacrificing lock-in of the customer's data).
  - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
    It's a dilemma isn't it, without funding it probably won't happen, with funding it's corrupted in some way.
    - cmiles74 9y ago
      I'm not seeing how products that are funded are "corrupted". I think that products that are funded need to make money and that drives the pressure to cordon off the customer's data and to lock them into the specific application. I'm not saying that this is innately bad (though some people might), but that it runs counter to this idea of building an OS that does more than simply launch software and store data. If you're feeling pressure to own the customer's data, then you won't be all that interested in making your application available to the rest of the OS by providing a suite of services.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago

Profit is definitely a driver for much open-source software, Google pushes Android so they can control mobile advertising, Oracle pushes Java to stop Microsoft having a stranglehold on corporate development, RedHat pushes Linux so it can sell services. There aren't many big open source projects that are purely altruistic.

cmiles74 9y ago
For sure there are projects that are driven by dollars, but many that are not... If we're going to get a desktop environment with the level of openness that the OP would like, I do think this would be a job for libre developers as it is fundamentally at odds with the pursuit of dollars via lock-in (that is, every app would be increasing the value of the OS and sacrificing lock-in of the customer's data).
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  It's a dilemma isn't it, without funding it probably won't happen, with funding it's corrupted in some way.
  - cmiles74 9y ago
    I'm not seeing how products that are funded are "corrupted". I think that products that are funded need to make money and that drives the pressure to cordon off the customer's data and to lock them into the specific application. I'm not saying that this is innately bad (though some people might), but that it runs counter to this idea of building an OS that does more than simply launch software and store data. If you're feeling pressure to own the customer's data, then you won't be all that interested in making your application available to the rest of the OS by providing a suite of services.