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Mad Hatter Preview - Sun Java Desktop System Demo
bengine writes "According to this article, Sun Java Desktop System is a good product overall, built on the well-established SuSE system with integration from Sun. It delivers what appears to be a very useful desktop OS and it has the chance to make a dent in the Windows monopoly. But Sun will have to differentiate itself on its quality, hardware, services and reputation. That means a lot of hard work, so the key questions will be how well they execute their strategy, how much public acceptance they gain and what message they convey through public venues." This makes a good companion to the earlier story linking to Mad Hatter screenshots.
Why is there a need to preview so many GNOME Desktops under different name ? GNOME is GNOME no matter what company forks it. As soon as GNOME 2.6 comes out SUN, Ximian or Red Hat gonna fork it again for their Desktop. So if you want to know how each new GNOME looks like then please go and look inside the real GNOME and not some lame forks which changes anyways as soon as the core releases a new version.
When I read the article for the first time I thought it was an OS that most of its apps are Java or something, but it turned out to be a Linux distro, with the most common Linux apps (GNOME, Mozilla, Evolution)
Anyway, it still looks like a good choice for desktops, I think I'll try to test it as soon as it's available.
The IT section color scheme sucks.
The author states The Open Office Team and the Sun Microsystems developers must be working in Tandem to make their suites more accessible to the public. but from the Open Office website:
StarDivision, the original author of the StarOffice suite of software, was founded in Germany in the mid-1980s. It was acquired by Sun Microsystems during the summer of 1999 and StarOffice 5.2 was released in June of 2000. Future versions of StarOffice software, beginning with 6.0, have been built using the OpenOffice.org source, APIs, file formats, and reference implementation.
Sun Java Desktop System doesn't have much with Java, this is just "branding", Sun is trying to decline the Java brand in as many fields as they can.
When you have a brand name that actually means something to the public, and you try to perform a "line extension" by applying that brand name to more or less unrelated products that do not share the characteristics with which the brand is associated, you don't enhance the value of the brand, you diminish it.
.net and apply it to some inchaote mass of technology.
Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, by all means, but there's a good reason why Coca-Cola Corporation calls their orange juice "Minute Maid" and not "Orange Coke."
Sun's calling everything "Java" is almost as bad as Microsoft trying to appropriate the top-level-domain
Calling everything Sun does "Java" may please the ego of whatever manager is empowered to stick the name "Java" on stuff, but it won't do Sun, or Sun's customers, or the Java "brand" any good.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Is there any reason people keep mimicing the same old desktop? The same old office applications? Is anyone out there trying to break the mold (I give Apple credit for doing this to a greater degree than others)? I mean, I still see Win98 and above emulation here (not emulation like that...emulation as in, "the child emulates his parents actions"), why not work on something a bit more revolutionary?
Of course here I am nit-picking, and don't really have anything helpful to add...
Carry On.
- Sighuh?
See sun package linux.
See sun sell package + support.
See thousands of IT managers now say "oh yeah, _NOW_ I'll make the switch!"
Riiiight.
Linux still has the same issues...one of the biggest is...it's not windows! (oh, and the mouse movement is still not quite right..) All those MS Office licences that were negotiated, all those Seiko label printers the secretaries love and probably won't work (and if they do it'll be a pain), all the pirated copies of X-Treme Beach Volleyball that won't run, all the techs who will have to be retra[[[[tired and new ones with linux experience found...
Let's face it. The linux faithful on slashdot are all nodding their heads saying "it could work..!" The suits who run the numbers, the IT managers who make the decisions...heck, even the techs on the floor are shaking their heads.
Could it happen? Yes. Will it happen. No. Not for technical reasons (I think we'd all agree that it's very technically feasible) but for people reasons.
Uh, you do realize that the "3rd party add-on" is _Sun_ Staroffice, right? They are adding on their own software, so I don't think you can really call it a 3rd party add-on.
l
Sun has been investing a great deal of work into GNOME (particularly for accessibility). You can see just how many sun.com email addresses show up on the GNOME foundation list here:
http://foundation.gnome.org/membership-list.htm
I don't know why they choose GNOME over KDE, but the decision obviously happened long ago. It very well may have to do with the toolkit. I don't know much about the Qt license, so this may be wrong, but I'm under the impression that you have to pay to use it if you are developing a proprietary application. That would be a stupid choice for Sun -- then people would have to pay for the toolkit to develop integrated, proprietary applications that ran on their "Java" Desktop.
Thanks.
I'm not a fan of the subscription type of licence, but as I said, it is not that much money...
But this is not a subscription type license. If it was a subscription then after 1 year if you did not pay more money you would have to uninstall and destroy all copies of the product. This is not the case with the Mad Hatter. You can keep running it, but if you want support you have to pay. (Someone has to pay the phone bills and wages after all...)
Sun Java Desktop System is a good product overall, built on the well-established SuSE system with integration from Sun. It delivers what appears to be a very useful desktop OS and it has the chance to make a dent in the Windows monopoly.
Whoever thinks that Sun has it in them to make a high-quality desktop must never have used a Sun GUI. Try OpenWindows to get an idea of what Sun thinks is a good GUI. To the degree that MadHatter is a great desktop, it's a great desktop because of Gnome, not because of what Sun added to it (which is very little).
In fact, MadHatter is a big admission of defeat for Sun: Sun should have delivered a Java desktop environment. That is, they should have delivered an environment in which applications and tools are written in Java. Instead, they are shipping an open source desktop environment written mostly in C/C++, ship a JVM along with it, and call it a "Java desktop". Apparently, it's beyond the capabilities of a multi-billion dollar company to develop a usable desktop in what they claim to be the premier programming platform for the 21st century.
SuSE, RedHat, and Gnome can make a dent in Microsoft's monopoly--they have the software, ease of installation, and driver support for PCs. Sun has nothing to contribute that I can see.