Quick Ref: Linux Mint 11 #1
Hat problems
Linux on TV
Trying out XFce4
Mozilla mailbox in dual-boot machine
« Taming lists
» Automating testing with Puffin
RedHat’s recent decision to present a GUI in their upcoming version by combining best features of GNOME and KDE took some heat, and a developer quit RH!
RedHat is not my favourite distribution, but about this decision, I say, “Way to go, RH!”. Jim Lynch has written a great opinion in ExtremeTech. I think people who don’t like the RedHat idea should read this. I think this is good for RedHat, KDE, GNOME and Open Source.
Why do I like this? Take a look at the screenshots. What Linux (or rather, Open Source) has are abundance of applications. This could very well be its greatest bottleneck when it comes to acceptance. Advising users on the technical merits and demerits of KDE or GNOME religiously will not win over newbies. It should be focused on answering questions like Which is the best and the easiest way for me to get this thing done?
On that score, I think, RedHat is right on track for enhancing the usability of their distribution. I don’t think it makes sense for enhancing the usability of KDE and GNOME individually, from their point of view.
What RedHat must do though, is to very clearly acknowledge the great work done by KDE and GNOME teams.
There is still lot of hacker mentality in the newsgroups. I used to use Slackware in 1995. When I got Debian in 1997, I was very happy. Why? Because it was easier to install. In 1998, I got RedHat. Even simpler install. Since 1999, I’ve been using Mandrake. Same reason - easiest of all installs. I can pretty much compile the kernel and install it by hand if that is what is required - but the point is, if I don’t need to, I don’t want to. Part of the joy in Open Source is to build a system by hand; till I got married. Now, my priorities have changed. And these distros are really helping me indulge my other priorities.
At the moment, I’m using Mandrake 8.2. I’m not sure if I should install 9.0, or install RedHat. For a home user, Mandrake is still the king, but I use Linux also because it is a Unix environment on which I can enhance my skills for my career. Corporate world, especially Oracle, seem to be RedHat oriented.
RH is Cool. I hope to have RH Gui OS! thanks