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| Katherine Noyes, aka Linux Girl |
Exhibit A:
After years of
comfortable service to Linux users far and wide, the GNOME
2 desktop was effectively retired, replaced instead by the
mobile-inspired GNOME
3 alternative. Ubuntu, meanwhile, launched its like-minded Unity.
Many Linux users
balked, not enjoying the mobile paradigm on the desktop.
Instead, they turned to any one of countless alternative desktops or distros. Eventually, the GNOME project relented. Meanwhile, brand-new desktops and distros were born to serve this base of users who yearned for the classic experience. Life went on, and users were happy again.
An unhappy prospect
Exhibit B:
Over in the proprietary
world, on the other hand, Microsoft came out with Windows
8 and its “Modern UI,” formerly known as Metro.
Users
balked; usability experts expressed concern. No start button to be
found; huge learning curve.
And, what are users'
choices?
Well, downgrade
back to Windows 7 or switch to something else altogether, such as Mac
or—better yet—Linux.
Life may be going on,
but it's not at all clear that users are happy with such a disruptive
set of choices before them.
A solution for everyone
Few areas of the Linux world are more fascinating than this desktop evolution, and it's really because of the speed with which free and open source software can evolve to meet users' preferences.
Whereas Microsoft and
its users will take years to get beyond the debacle that is Windows
8, the Linux community has already found a place for its own set of
mobile-minded contenders and come up with yet more choices for
those who don't like them.
First
in this glorious evolution following the arrival of the
mobile-inspired contenders was MATE,
an alternative for Linux Mint users.
Appearing
not long afterwards, Cinnamon
is a
fork of the GNOME 3 shell that's designed to offer yet another
transitional option between the old, familiar GNOME 2 and the new
GNOME 3.
Cinnamon
has already enjoyed particularly
widespread
adoption, including use in not just Mint but also Sabayon,
Cinnarch
and possibly even
as a default in
Fedora.
Enter the distros
 |
| SolusOS |
 |
| Fuduntu |
Bottom line?
There's
always a fresh and new choice for everyone in the world of Linux
desktops--even in this era of mobile-inspired transitions. If that's
not a testament to the power of FOSS, I don't know what is.
-- Katherine Noyes
Katherine, I have to point out that there is one intermediate step for Windows 8 users that isn't quite as extreme as installing Windows 7. There are a plethora of replacement Start Menus available. I recommend that people pay the $5 for Start8. Is it ideal that someone have to pay money to recover their workflow? No. That said, it's not ideal that someone have to maintain software themselves or write a replacement graphical shell either, but it was the solution available.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, thanks for the good press. We always appreciate it!
Blair Zimmerman,
Fuduntu Marketing
I tested out Win8 on both my desktop and laptop, even with the start menu replacement app it is horrible. After running on Win8 since Sept, I decided I was done with it and made a switch to Fedora. Couldn't be happier.
ReplyDeleteI really like Gnome 2 and SolusOS clearly benefits from it with a clean customisable interface. How long will these distros stick with Gnome 2 before either XFCE or MATE become a better choice
ReplyDeleteIkey Doherty announced the fork of Gnome3 to 'Consort'.
Deletehttp://www.pcworld.com/article/2025526/meet-consort-a-brand-new-classic-linux-desktop.html