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"Linux will succeed as a desktop environment only when (and if) its various factions agree on a single model and a single goal." Many Linux users probably don'

"Linux will succeed as a desktop environment only when (and if) its various factions agree on a single model and a single goal." Many Linux users probably don't want to see a single model. They like the choice of being able to choose from different distributions and their own desktop model. Ubuntu is probably the closest to being a consistent desktop environment and look how much grief they get from some Linux users over their UX choices. The open source model works for software, but it can't work for UX or design (at least I'm not convinced it can) because you can't design by commitee - any yet everyone wants a say in the UX. Would it have been better for Munich to have specified open document or data formats rather than the choice of software? This is what the UK government has recently done [1]. The choice of software is up to the individual departments as long as the software can read or create the open formats etc. At least this gives you the choice of switching to dfferent software without being tied to a single vendor's closed-sorce document format. [1] http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2014/07/huge-win-for-odf-lets-not-mess-it-up/index.htm http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2014/07/hug...

lutusp 12y ago
> Many Linux users probably don't want to see a single model. They like the choice of being able to choose from different distributions and their own desktop model. Yes, true, but it would be nice to see more consensus for a single default desktop for new users. I guess that's Gnome as things stand, but Gnome has some serious usability issues and would seem very strange to someone coming over from Windows. On that topic, Windows 8 seems strange from someone coming over from Windows too. :) > Ubuntu is probably the closest to being a consistent desktop environment ... Well, sort of, by their advocacy of Gnome, but I was thinking of KDE versus Gnome and a handful of other desktop environment choices. > Would it have been better for Munich to have specified open document or data formats rather than the choice of software? That might have been a smarter course to take. It leaves the implementation up to individual departments and makes the Linux versus Windows issue less important than the end result, which is portable documents. Naturally, once the open document format issue heated up, Microsoft tried to create their own "open" document, but one that was actually proprietary, in a time-tested Microsoft strategy.

lutusp 12y ago

> Many Linux users probably don't want to see a single model. They like the choice of being able to choose from different distributions and their own desktop model. Yes, true, but it would be nice to see more consensus for a single default desktop for new users. I guess that's Gnome as things stand, but Gnome has some serious usability issues and would seem very strange to someone coming over from Windows. On that topic, Windows 8 seems strange from someone coming over from Windows too. :) > Ubuntu is probably the closest to being a consistent desktop environment ... Well, sort of, by their advocacy of Gnome, but I was thinking of KDE versus Gnome and a handful of other desktop environment choices. > Would it have been better for Munich to have specified open document or data formats rather than the choice of software? That might have been a smarter course to take. It leaves the implementation up to individual departments and makes the Linux versus Windows issue less important than the end result, which is portable documents. Naturally, once the open document format issue heated up, Microsoft tried to create their own "open" document, but one that was actually proprietary, in a time-tested Microsoft strategy.