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Is SaaS Killing Native Linux App Development?
jfruhlinger writes "In a world where 'app' is the new buzzword, the development of native Linux apps is lagging. Some of this can be attributed to the usual community infighting (the latest version of which is argument about Ubuntu's Unity interface), but there may be something deeper at play: Linux advocates have for so long advocated browser-accessed software as a service as a way to break out of Microsoft's proprietary desktop. Now that this world has arrived, there's less incentive to work on native Linux apps. But of course, entrusting your functionality and data to a cloud provider like Google has its own set of concerns for free software fans."
There is no argument about Unity. We all agree that it sucks. There is minor disagreement about the degree to which it sucks.
Does that really stop anyone from writing Linux applications?
Due to lack of good tools. With MS Visual studio / VB any old monkey can make GUI apps easily, with Linux its not that easy There are plenty of GUI creation kits out there for Linux apps that are
*Easy to use
*Widely supported
*Actively maintained
*Designed for use with a somewhat mainstream language
But it seems to be a case of "pick any 3", or sometimes only 2.
This triggers my rant reflex...
I started my career in native development, and only in the last say 5 years have I done almost exclusively Java based web development, mostly due to market demands and needing a paycheck. I miss the quick response times, quicker builds and simplicity where it was appropriate. I suspect the best hope for any native development now is maintaining legacy systems and mobile apps. People used to be in client/server development, but that's largely been replaced by the SaaS model due to comparative simplicity, but now we have a myriad of new technologies and frameworks globbed together. The industry's answer to any amount of complexity is yet another platform or framework and more indirection. It's hard to secure and know that it's done properly, and harder to know that someone else did it properly.
Go ahead and shoot me, but I miss the real native development days, regardless of the platform.
HTML5 is just another GUI front-end library. In no way does it require you to write cloud based apps. If you want a native Linux application write the GUI in HTML5 and run the server on the same machine as your GUI. Hmmm.... something kind of like the Xserver model, but brought 30 years into the future?
When people whine about the ending of location transparency with the Xserver, what is going away is the Xserver as the primary GUI library, not location transparency in general. The Xserver needs to die, it is pass its prime and we need to move onto newer GUI technologies.
So stop writing native Linux applications and instead start writing HTML5 applications that ship with a built-in server. The cool thing about apps in this model is that the GUI works on Linux, Mac and Windows plus you can run the server locally or in the cloud - your choice. If you want to help out convert some native Linux apps into the HTML5 model.
Wayland is a key transition technology. It allows apps like Chrome/Firefox to be written directly to EGL. Plus you can run a user space Xserver as a legacy tool.
Incidentally, why the hell did everyone start going with 'SaaS' instead of 'webapps'? The concept is nearly as old as the web itself.
Because SaaS is on the cloud, whereas webapps are on the internet.
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Could it be because the set of target environments is so large compared to Windows / OS X? You've got to support multiple distros (and versions of distros), multiple desktop environments, etc.
What application do you use to edit photos and make illustrations? Or do you consider that application part of "the dev environment"?
Wrong dude. There is plenty of money to be made Native Linux App development. It's called support! I think this post is just FUD. Have you ever checked out Freshmeat.net or Sourceforge ? There are lots of new applications being developed for Linux.
Lets see, I am typing this in Linux, on my desktop at work.
I first saw the story on my android phone, running Linux.
There was a WiFi router that was running linux that sent it to my android phone.
Nope, not the year of the desktop.
Linux is dying (or perhaps dead). At least it is on the desktop.
Linux desktop seems steady at around 1%. Since computer usage is growing, that also means Linux desktop usage is growing. If I ever capture 1% of the global computer market, I would consider it a success beyond anything I could comprehend. So, you have a very odd definition of "dead".
general app development on Linux dropped off years ago
Huh? Like what? There are now decent 3D modelleers (blender), audio editors, photographic maniuplation, drawing, image stitching programs, indie games, etc. There is so much more than there was 10 years ago.
But somewhere around 2002 I started to feel betrayed. Here I was, nearly 10 years later and Linux still wasn't on the desktop - at least not in any kind of meaningful way. Sure I kept hearing how 1997...1998...1999...2000...2001 were all going to be the "Year of Linux on the Desktop" - but it never happened.
So you feel betrayed that the rantings of a bunch of usenetters didn't come to much? Wow. You have a low threshold for betrayal.
all the while lifting as many UI ideas as they could from each OS
Yeah well, that does kinda suck. The blind copying is making a mess of the Linus desktop experience.
Here we are in 2011 and I'm seeing the same old shit.
Like...?
I'm just about ready to give up Slashdot because 90% of the Linux-related news stories just remind me that we haven't made any progress
C' ya
SJW n. One who posts facts.