Linux *Won't* Fail on the Desktop?

HanzoSan sent in a story claiming that Linux will Succeed on the desktop, and not just the server market where it already has had much success. I think that the latest version of KDE has demonstrated that it can compete, but with the increasing dependance on file formats that have no support on Linux, it's going to be awfully difficult. That said, Linux has been my desktop for many moons, and I don't plan on changing it (Maybe If Apple released TiBook's with 3 mouse buttons I'd at least have an option ;)

Comments

Re:Build a tool ...

[MenTaLguY]

That's effectively the idea behind Berlin.

Re:Whose desktop are we talking about?

[anpe]

Unless you're an advanced user you don't need to unzip untar or whatever to install a program.

If you're not using a Slackware 0.1a, you will be able to find some admin apps to manage your packages in your GNOME or KDE menu ...

Compare comparable things : if you want to install something from the source under Windows, some actions a bit more complicated that next-next-next-finish are involved : your dad would have to launch MSVC++ and hapilly compile every new release of Word.

Re:Universal File Formats

[ncc74656]

There needs to be some type of HTML standard for printed documents.

Repeat after me:

HTML is not a "page-design" language."
HTML is not a "page-design" language."
HTML is not a "page-design" language."

CSS, OTOH, does provide for specifying the positioning, style, etc. of printed documents as well as stuff viewed in a browser. In fact, with software that supports it, you could have one document with a completely different appearance on-screen and on-paper, each optimized for the characteristics of the medium. (You wouldn't need "click here for the print-optimized version of this page" links on a page.) It's anybody's guess, though, as to how well the printing-oriented features of CSS are implemented in current browsers.