Unusual Linux Desktops?

sparrow_hawk asks: "I'm doing a presentation on Linux, sort of a basic education about what exactly it is and isn't. One of the points I'm trying to hammer home is the idea that Linux can look and act pretty much however you want it to. I'd like to know what's the most unusual Linux desktop you've seen, preferably with screenshots -- the one that looks like the helm of an alien spaceship, or the one that mimics a 50's radio?"

Comments

Re:Wow!

[Brandybuck]

Please post mockup of desktop that does not mimic something else, that is still usable... It's much easier to tell other people to be creative than to be creative yourself.

Re:Wow!

[E_elven]

I'd say to definitely include some of the mock-ups.. after the breathtaking display of creativity you can finish with "..And if you just want to keep everything nice and familiar to start with, well, you can do that too!"

careful

[Johnny Mnemonic]

I would be really careful about this. While the power of choice is attractive to geeks, it more often than not puts normal people off. I think that you stand to lose more converts than you gain by putting up extreme Linux desktops--normal people react with "this is a much too complicated thing for me", rather than "oh cool! I want to twiddle with my machine too!"

For proof, look no farther than how many Windows users have changed the default background on their machine.

Re:careful

[Brandybuck]

While the power of choice is attractive to geeks, it more often than not puts normal people off.

Where the heck did you get that factoid? From the Encyclopedia Slashdotica? It's clearly false. While some people abhor choice, the vast majority want it.

Go into MacDonalds and find twenty different kinds of hamburgers, plus chicken and fish sandwiches. Odds are they'll have a specialty sandwich for the month. A far far cry from the John Belushi "cheeseburger cheeseburger pespi" world. Restaurants have dozens of selections. Even those that cater to the non-geek.

Grocery store commercials advertise new larger selections. Automobile commercials advertise new makes, models and a huge range of colors and options. Ditto for just about any other kind of store I can think of. "LiquorMegaSuperMart! Now with three hundred of your favorite microbrews!"

"But," I hear you say, "it's different when it comes to computers!" Nonsense. I walk around my work and I see that at least nine out of ten Windows users have their own wallpaper.

Re:careful

[bolind]

People want to personalize.

I don't know how wide spread this is outside Europe, but take cellphones for example.

They used to be just plain black og grey. You could switch between a couple of ringing tones, and the networks had the ability to change the logo on the screen, in order to tell you what network you were currently using.

OK, in under a year, a whole industry blossomed. Personalized covers in all kinds of colors, services where you could download new background images, new ringing tones. Now, they have as many different cell phones as there are cars offered. You choose your cellphone like you choose your car; of course it has to meet your needs and not exceed your financial capabilities, but you use it to define yourself, just like the clothes you wear, and how you decorate your home.

So don't give me the "users don't want to personalize". They might be scared of doing it, but if it was simple, then they would.

Re:careful

[sql*kitten]

So don't give me the "users don't want to personalize".

Maybe they do, maybe they don't. They can do as they please with their own toys and gadgets. But ask anyone who's ever supported anything, whether answering the phone at the helpdesk or writing code that relies on certain other code being present, and they'll tell you allowing the end user the ability personalize anything more than strictly necessary is a recipe for disaster.

A desktop PC for most people is a work tool, nothing more, nothing less. The ability to personalize it is just a distraction. And worse, if it's too personalized, the regular user won't be able to use a different one, and other users will not be able to use it.

Re:Enlightenment v0.13

[tiny69]

I miss the old themes.org. The themes could be as simple as AbsoluteE or some gaudy monstrosity. And they would both look good. There was also a lot of effort to create the best looking theme or screenshot. I just don't see that anymore. The only reason I don't use E now is because Slackware dropped it because of library naming issues. Instead, I'm using KDE which is just as bad as Gnome. There are well over a dozen different processes that need to be running.

$ ps ax | grep kde
. . . /bin/sh /opt/kde/bin/startkde
kdeinit: Running...
kdeinit: dcopserver --nosid
kdeinit: klauncher
kdeinit: kded
kdeinit: knotify
kdeinit: ksmserver
kdeinit: kwin
kdeinit: kdesktop
kdeinit: kicker
kdeinit: klipper
kdeinit: konsole --ls
kdeinit: kmix -caption KMix -icon kmix -miniicon kmix /opt/kde/bin/artsd -F 10 -S 4096 -s 60 -m artsmessage -l 3 -f
kdeinit: konsole --ls
kdeinit: konqueror --silent

I miss how simple and smooth E ran, even on older, slower systems. The only thing that has impressed me with the desktop in the last couple of years is the addition of tabs to the webbrowsers and Konsole.

Anyone remember when Netscape was the only GUI webbrowser. And it was also the buggiest thing on the system?

Re:Enlightenment v0.13

[Heretik]

ah, good old e.themes.org. You're absolutely right; there was a community built around themes.org, just dedicated to making awesome themes.

That little bar to the left with the top 5 downloaded themes was about the biggest motivating factor I've ever had for a project. Just having your theme up there for a few days felt really good.... somebody actually used your theme!

Does this exist anymore? Why isn't there, say, a comparable GNOME themeing community? Alot of the E nerds went to GNOME after E17 failed to materialise in any sane amount of time, you'd think they'd be themeing..

Then again.... I'm not.

Devices not desktops

[Spoing]

If this were for geeky desktop-only folks, I'd stick with your current plan. Otherwise, show them that Linux is in use ...

...in all Tivos

...in robotics

...various network appliances

...on mainframes

...in cell phones

...on PDAs

...in wristwatches (though a protype)

...and in and in a variety of other gadgets and practical devices

In addition, point out that even creative types like Linux as it has been used to produce most of the major films over the last few years -- from the raw horsepower of render farms through to the artist's desktop.

Just some ideas. (Check each one out before claiming it, though I think all the above is accurate.)