Ubuntu To Pay for Upgrades To the Free Software User Experience 546
jcatcw writes "Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols reports that Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, is using his millions to improve the Linux user experience, hiring people to work on X, OpenGL, Gtk, Qt, GNOME and KDE. He had doubted that desktop Linux could ever equal the smooth, graceful integration of the Mac OS. Now, between the driving pace of open-source development, and Shuttleworth's millions, it might be happening. Why not? After all, Mac OS itself is based on FreeBSD. Desktop Linux's future is starting to look brighter."
Re:Why Not? (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe the problem is until Linux geeks get laid more, they simply won't bother to take time to smell the flowers: i.e. pay any attention to the end-user's experience.
I have a thought! Maybe Mark should be paying hookers!? BRILLIANT!
An omen! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why Not? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Quite a broad range of things to improve (Score:5, Funny)
Straight from Shaney's mouth (Score:5, Funny)
"Macs were interesting because 1) they weren't Intel and 2) they weren't Unix, now they're both. Oh well."
BSD is growing (Score:3, Funny)
Sorry, I couldn't help it:
It is official; Netcraft now confirms: *BSD is growing
One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Windows community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has risen yet again, now up to more than 30 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has gained more market share , this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is sending other OSes into complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by topping the charts in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Daemon to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a long and prosperous future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Windows Server because *BSD is growing. Things are looking very good for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to gain market share. Red ink flows from Redmond like a river of blood.
FreeBSD is the most loved of them all, having gained 93% more core developers. The sudden and pleasant release of the long developed 5.0 only serves to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is growing.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 70000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 70000/5 = 14000 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 7000 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (70000+14000+7000)*4 = 364000 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the release of OSX, cool new technologies and so on, FreeBSD is expanding into more desktops than ever. FreeBSD has become more than the sum of its parts.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily gained in market share. *BSD is very powerful and its long term survival prospects are very bright. If Windows is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to improve. The progress achieved is nothing short of a miracle. For all practical purposes, *BSD is alive and kicking.
Fact: *BSD will kick your ass
Re:Gnome + KDE (Score:5, Funny)
What a wonderfully balanced opinion you have.
I can't imagine why there's such bad blood.
Re:Gnome + KDE (Score:5, Funny)
I disagree. I seriously hate KDE.
KDE is dysfunctional, overwhelms me with options, looks like shit (well, that can be themed, but...) and just generally sucks.
If Gnome had been chosen instead and as much time had been spent on polishing Gnome as Mandrake/Mandriva has spent on polishing KDE, we would not have this discussion.... Mandriva (i.e. Gmandriva) would already rule the desktop.
Sadly, I see more and more development time wasted on supporting / trying to polish KDE into something usable instead of just throwing the towel into the ring and going with Gnome.
====
Sorry if this offends your sensabilities, but I just couldn't resist, and I think that is pretty much sums up the silly debate between KDE and Gnome users who are both happy with their own choices.
Re:Why Not? (Score:5, Funny)
<BENDER>
In fact, forget the development!
</BENDER>
Re:Flash content (Score:5, Funny)
Link for 64 bit version please?
Adobe don't believe in 64 bit. In fact i think their programmers get confused if you ask them to count to 33
Lunix??? (Score:5, Funny)
WTF is Lunix???? Doesn't exist, according to distrowatch.
Re:Interesting. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:MacOS could be based on RiscOS (Score:5, Funny)
Jeremiah Cornelius (137) *
People with user numbers like that always make me think of early generation vampires or very old wine.
Re:The Year of the Linux Desktop . . . (Score:3, Funny)
They better hurry up they have just three months left to make it happen :-P
Re:Interesting. (Score:3, Funny)
I actually really like wx GUIs. But I'm a programmer, which makes any opinions I hold on GUIs automatically flawed.
Anyone who has more than once contemplated if maybe he should forget X and just switch to a VT and screen doesn't get a vote.
Re:Flash content (Score:3, Funny)
Whole Ubuntu/GNOME is build around concept that user is an idiot who doesn't know why he has just forked $$$ for the PC.
Are you implying they are anything but? (I kid! I kid!)
Disclosure: I am running Ubuntu/Gnome.
Re:Straight from Shaney's mouth (Score:2, Funny)
Well if you just want to be interesting, why don't you become gay and start using an Amiga?
Re:Interesting. (Score:2, Funny)
Wait... are you implying that Screen isn't a top of the line desktop environment? I hope not, because that would be false, wrong, and dumb.