6 ms·

ome may say that the Linux Desktop is dead No, the desktop user-interface paradigm is dead. Overlapping windows, scrollbars, context menus, using a mouse and

ome may say that the Linux Desktop is dead No, the desktop user-interface paradigm is dead. Overlapping windows, scrollbars, context menus, using a mouse and cursor... it's all dead. This style of computing that Xerox invented, and Mac and Windows perpetuated is getting awfully long in the tooth. Linux never innovated over and above the desktop model that Windows and Mac used, and it will die along with them, and be replaced with mobile/cloud/touchscreen systems.

rbanffy 15y ago
I am not sure if this is the part of the computer that's dying. I'd bet on the file and application management versus the kind of curated experience Apple popularized.
- wavephorm 15y ago
  Why do you think Microsoft is going ahead with "Metro" touch interfaces in Windows 8? How applications are installed and files are managed is a different issue, it's irrelevant to how the user interface operates.
  - untog 15y ago
    Why do you think Microsoft is going ahead with "Metro" touch interfaces in Windows 8? Because a new form factor has emerged. It hasn't killed the old one, though- very few people that use computers (i.e. in an office, sat at a desk) could perform their job on a tablet. Metro sits on top of the existing UI without replacing it, in the same way that tablets complement existing computing setups, not replace them. I don't doubt that tablet usage will increase and that PC usage may decline, but tablets still fill a specific role.
    - wavephorm 15y ago
      It's not surprising that most people (even programmers, and the technically inclined) can't even comprehend how the desktop model will be replaced by natural user interfaces. That's precisely why paradigm shifts catch people and entire industries off guard. I guarantee in 10 years you won't be using a mouse, you won't be resizing windowed applications, and moving scrollbars up and down, none of this will be necessary. I'm not just talking about iPad replacing your Windows PC. I'm talking about a mouse not even being necessary to perform your tasks. Why use a mouse to click a button, when you can just touch it with your finger, or why click through 20 context menus to activate an option when you can just speak to your computer and say "turn music on". The operating system and form factor of the device is irrelevant. Natural user interfaces (touch, sound, speech, vision, gestures) are going to blow the desktop model into the dark ages. And it's going to happen way, way faster than most people expect.
      - bad_user 15y ago
        There is no such thing as a "natural user interface". What is natural is learning by reapplying already learned concepts. Stay off the weeds for awhile.
        wavephorm 15y ago
        No such thing? Really? So you're saying "touch, sound, speech, vision, gestures" for using computers does not exist? You have inadvertently proved my point, few people today can comprehend how computers will be used tomorrow. And it is this exact reason that Linux is going to be light year behind the rest of the world when it comes to user interface design. The people making open source duplications of windows aren't the ones innovating for the future. Anyone who thinks Linux desktop is going to take over the world needs to stay off the weed.
        untog 15y ago
        No such thing? Really? So you're saying "touch, sound, speech, vision, gestures" for using computers does not exist? No, what he and I are saying is that you're drawing an entirely artificial line in the sand about what is and isn't "natural". Desktop interfaces today use "touch" in the sense that you touch a keyboard and mouse. They use sound. Obviously they use vision. Why is pressing on the screen with my finger more "natural" than using a mouse? What does "natural" even mean and why is it better than "non-natural"? few people today can comprehend how computers will be used tomorrow For a second there I imagined I was in the 1960s, talking to someone who is convinced that everyone will be driving a flying car by 1990. Predicting with absolute certainly how anything is going to look in the future usually doesn't pan out.
        wavephorm 15y ago
        Desktop interfaces today use "touch" in the sense that you touch a keyboard and mouse Touchscreen interfaces, speech recognition and dictation, and computer vision are NOT part of the desktop GUI paradigm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_graphical_user_interfaces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_graphical_user_inte... someone who is convinced that everyone will be driving a flying car by 1990. Predicting with absolute certainly how anything is going to look in the future It is not just me that is convinced that next-generation interfaces will replace conventional desktops. Steve Jobs did too.
  - rbanffy 15y ago
    I think it's a knee-jerk reaction to the iPad's success. Much like Windows Mobile, the gloss is only skin deep. A desktop is a couple clicks away and is probably what most people will use in the end.
whatusername 15y ago
Linux will be replaced by Android?
- wavephorm 15y ago
  I said Desktop will be replaced by Mobile.
  - jiggy2011 15y ago
    I'm not sure that makes sense, how do you define mobile? Something that can run off batteries? Then maybe but that's already happening to an extent with laptops but I have noticed allot of laptops around now that have large enough screens and keyboards that they are basically desktops. So there is still clearly a demand for computers with allot of screen real estate and a full size keyboard, perhaps allot of processing work can be offloaded to the "cloud" so processing power becomes less important than battery life. I don't really see the future as an office full of people sitting down hunched over their 9" tablets poking away at the screen (or making hand gestures all day, or talking to the computer for 8 hours straight).

rbanffy 15y ago

I am not sure if this is the part of the computer that's dying. I'd bet on the file and application management versus the kind of curated experience Apple popularized.

wavephorm 15y ago
Why do you think Microsoft is going ahead with "Metro" touch interfaces in Windows 8? How applications are installed and files are managed is a different issue, it's irrelevant to how the user interface operates.
- untog 15y ago
  Why do you think Microsoft is going ahead with "Metro" touch interfaces in Windows 8? Because a new form factor has emerged. It hasn't killed the old one, though- very few people that use computers (i.e. in an office, sat at a desk) could perform their job on a tablet. Metro sits on top of the existing UI without replacing it, in the same way that tablets complement existing computing setups, not replace them. I don't doubt that tablet usage will increase and that PC usage may decline, but tablets still fill a specific role.
  - wavephorm 15y ago
    It's not surprising that most people (even programmers, and the technically inclined) can't even comprehend how the desktop model will be replaced by natural user interfaces. That's precisely why paradigm shifts catch people and entire industries off guard. I guarantee in 10 years you won't be using a mouse, you won't be resizing windowed applications, and moving scrollbars up and down, none of this will be necessary. I'm not just talking about iPad replacing your Windows PC. I'm talking about a mouse not even being necessary to perform your tasks. Why use a mouse to click a button, when you can just touch it with your finger, or why click through 20 context menus to activate an option when you can just speak to your computer and say "turn music on". The operating system and form factor of the device is irrelevant. Natural user interfaces (touch, sound, speech, vision, gestures) are going to blow the desktop model into the dark ages. And it's going to happen way, way faster than most people expect.
    - bad_user 15y ago
      There is no such thing as a "natural user interface". What is natural is learning by reapplying already learned concepts. Stay off the weeds for awhile.
      - wavephorm 15y ago
        No such thing? Really? So you're saying "touch, sound, speech, vision, gestures" for using computers does not exist? You have inadvertently proved my point, few people today can comprehend how computers will be used tomorrow. And it is this exact reason that Linux is going to be light year behind the rest of the world when it comes to user interface design. The people making open source duplications of windows aren't the ones innovating for the future. Anyone who thinks Linux desktop is going to take over the world needs to stay off the weed.
        untog 15y ago
        No such thing? Really? So you're saying "touch, sound, speech, vision, gestures" for using computers does not exist? No, what he and I are saying is that you're drawing an entirely artificial line in the sand about what is and isn't "natural". Desktop interfaces today use "touch" in the sense that you touch a keyboard and mouse. They use sound. Obviously they use vision. Why is pressing on the screen with my finger more "natural" than using a mouse? What does "natural" even mean and why is it better than "non-natural"? few people today can comprehend how computers will be used tomorrow For a second there I imagined I was in the 1960s, talking to someone who is convinced that everyone will be driving a flying car by 1990. Predicting with absolute certainly how anything is going to look in the future usually doesn't pan out.
        wavephorm 15y ago
        Desktop interfaces today use "touch" in the sense that you touch a keyboard and mouse Touchscreen interfaces, speech recognition and dictation, and computer vision are NOT part of the desktop GUI paradigm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_graphical_user_interfaces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_graphical_user_inte... someone who is convinced that everyone will be driving a flying car by 1990. Predicting with absolute certainly how anything is going to look in the future It is not just me that is convinced that next-generation interfaces will replace conventional desktops. Steve Jobs did too.
- rbanffy 15y ago
  I think it's a knee-jerk reaction to the iPad's success. Much like Windows Mobile, the gloss is only skin deep. A desktop is a couple clicks away and is probably what most people will use in the end.

whatusername 15y ago

Linux will be replaced by Android?

wavephorm 15y ago
I said Desktop will be replaced by Mobile.
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  I'm not sure that makes sense, how do you define mobile? Something that can run off batteries? Then maybe but that's already happening to an extent with laptops but I have noticed allot of laptops around now that have large enough screens and keyboards that they are basically desktops. So there is still clearly a demand for computers with allot of screen real estate and a full size keyboard, perhaps allot of processing work can be offloaded to the "cloud" so processing power becomes less important than battery life. I don't really see the future as an office full of people sitting down hunched over their 9" tablets poking away at the screen (or making hand gestures all day, or talking to the computer for 8 hours straight).