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The main problem is manpower scarcity. Every time fragmentation increases, typically each project gets a bit weaker - from a situation where they are already ve
by toyg 5y ago
The main problem is manpower scarcity. Every time fragmentation increases, typically each project gets a bit weaker - from a situation where they are already very very weak.
> When one project stalls, another can take over.
Desktop environments are too big an effort to see this sort of dynamic. And it shows: the two major projects after 25 years are still the very first two. Around them we have a plethora of little projects who typically die as soon as their main sponsor dies, and contribute very little "R&D" to the main two - in fact, KDE and GNOME more often than not push experiments that the minnows then implement or reject.
- mattarm 5y agoThere is often strength in inefficient redundancy. For one, it allows smaller groups of people to act in empowered ways without a lot of communication and coordination overhead. I also don't see it as necessarily a zero sum game. The choice is not always "do thing A or contribute to a similar incumbent project B" but "do my own thing A or nothing at all, because B doesn't want my idea."
- panick21_ 5y ago> The main problem is manpower scarcity. A new popular project has the potential to bring in more users.