I'm assuming you don't remember the "kiss and make up" publicity stunt. I'll invite you to visit the GNOME-KDE interoperability mailing archive here.
Check out all that cooperating! Note how DnD formed in the very beginning (and was really just a matter of using existing DnD standards such as Motif). File formats are rarely discussed. Clipboards?! X has had a standard clipboard forever it seems. The only real substance I could find was talk of merging Bonobo and KParts which ended, well, nowhere.
I do have the code. It is regular C (as of now anyways). Maybe I have the wrong package.. mono-0.5.tar.gz. I have actually used OO style in C (with GTK and GNOME libraries). It is only fun to a certain degree. Soon you get tired of long function names that have to include the class name that you are working with. But this is not what really gets on my nerves. GNOME camp threw out tons of development and ideas they could have built on and insisted to rebuild much from scratch (their CORBA server comes to mind). Plus their development organization and focus is ad-hoc at best, and downright schizophrenic at worst.
So Evolution is Vaporware? Ximian Gnome 1.4 is Vaporware? Ximian Setup Tools are Vaporware? Ximian Metatheme is Vaporware? Gnumeric is Vaporware? Why can't I remember of any other company pushing out that much high quality software in such a short time? Why do I think, that you should shut the fuck up?
That's not fair. You and I both know the author is talking about Mono specifically.
As others already pointed out... unlike Microsoft, Ximian did not mention A SINGLE FUCKING WORD about their plans before they ACTUALLY HAD CODE TO SHOW. Now go to their download page and look at the goddamn source!
They did announce an "initiative" on July 9th. Initiative means "to begin" something. Whether or not there is a little bit of source code does not matter. If the source code does not fully contribute to and achieve the overall promises, it is vapourware (and hype). The source code is merely a worm with a hook on it, enticing free software developers to bite. And to claim that their project is not vapourware, which seems to be working with you.
Okay, let me see if I have this correct. This system is technically superior because it is comparable to nothing that exists?
It's a good, clean development platform that allows for a whole lot of interoperability.
Good? Subjective. Clean? Subjective. Interoperable? We will see about that one. Technical superiority can only be claimed once it has been proven. Right now we can only assume software development will be better after Microsoft launches.NET into the world. Anything else is blowing the whistle a little too soon.
So yes, Ximian wants involvement and they've gotten it, and they'll get more. Why? Because there are a lot of developers that have been using.NET or at least looking at the architecture, and want a free software implementation.
Of course people want a free implementation. But, Ximian is selling this idea that what they are doing is technically superior. They are using OO style programming in C to implement Mono for godsakes! They must surely be aware that there are OO tools for the job. How can someone claim they are advancing software development when they, themselves, are not using _decades_ of software advancement that has taken place to boost their position? What happens when we need to advance software development more? Do we throw out.NET and Mono and start from scratch on C again?
I care because people are being _misled_. When did I ever say what people must or must not do? It definitely is people's choice if they wish to volunteer or not. My point is this: GNOME has, instead of cooperating with KDE, simply misled the public about it from the start. The reason most people used to believe (and some still do) KDE was less free was because GNOME put that slant _on_ KDE. KDE was GPL from day 1. GNOME had this "holier than thou" attitude by claiming KDE was less free than GNOME. Instead of going to the source (KDE people) and attempting to talk them into a different toolkit (GTK or whatever) they simply bashed them in public. Note: Trolltech was NOT bashed. It was _KDE_ being bashed for the only decision they had at the time (QT was free for personal use, GTK was almost non-existant, not many other toolkits they could have used).
> But wait... you guys will keep complaining about GNOME altough you're using KDE or whatever!
No. I am complaining about GNOME members' ethics. Whatever desktop (if one at all) I am using is irrelavant.
They probably realize what an enormous userbase they will end up with. If they change their business model from "make money on product" to "make money on servicing product" they will see an increase in profit. It was by no means a friendly gesture to the free software ideology, but a reaction to the gaining momentum of KDE during the KDE vs. GNOME wars.
You must realize that Ximian and Trolltech are fighting for (or anticipating) the same desktop market that made Microsoft their billions. What Miguel did to KDE (cast KDE as evil and not free) was a publicity stunt so he can get his product into the spotlight and ahead of KDE. KDE was never in the wrong. They were and always have been GPL. It is Trolltech and Ximian which are attempting to make money on this "Linux desktop." Also note that Trolltech has always presented their product as it was. They did not place marketting "spins" to cast QT in a different light. Then we have GNOME saying "KDE is evil because QT is evil." No, I say GNOME is evil. They did not attempt cooperation with KDE to assure they would keep software _free_. Cooperation and sharing is the cornerstone of free software ideology. Yet GNOME threw this away by just claiming KDE is less free than GNOME. Cooperation, what's that? Instead of attempting to modify the free source code of KDE, GNOME brings C vs C++ into the battle. Is Miguel attempting to thwart developer time and energy into his own personal holy grail? Methinks so.
Why are we listening to this Ximian crap? Pitch us your product and shut up already.
But, there is a problem there. Ximian wants people to spend _their_ free time and energy helping Ximian make a profit. "Come help us code! Do it for the good of open source! For free software's sake!" THAT is why there is hype. The same reason GNOME was pure hype a few years ago. Remember all those promises made? A _unified_ desktop. Component interaction. They have delivered on the use of many buzzwords, but little on functionality. KDE was HERE when GNOME started. They threw KDE on the ground and KICKED it in the name of free software instead of attempting to confront the issue with KDE members. I bring this up because Ximian is to GNOME as Microsoft is to Windows.
GNOME is nothing more than an abuse of free software developers that is continuing with Mono.
The reason GNOME has made it thus far is because they (Miguel specifically) branded it as a _free_ desktop, unlike KDE (in GNOME-camp's opinion). This gained support from the free software purists. Now Ximian is attempting to get free software coders on the Mono bandwagon by spewing crap about how technically superior it is. Compared to what, Miguel? Nothing EXISTS that is comparable to this system. Infact this system does not even exist yet! It is just a pile of marketting material from a corporation. As Ximian is just another corporation on the bandwagon of another corporation. Nothing more than buzzword chasing ("We have feature X(tm)!" "Yes, but we have feature X++(tm)"). Technical superiority my ass.
I would say Enlightenment was the only (new) thing which could be considered innovation. It's mostly just eye-candy, but it does (did?) have various features which make it stand out from other window managers/desktops. Plus the speed was amazing for what it was doing (on slow X at that).
I must say this though.. innovation has been occuring in "open source" land since there was an "open source" land. It is just not as visible and usually not for people new to computers. From various languages such as CL, Scheme and Squeak (Smalltalk) to text editors (I don't recall seeing much syntax highlighting in Windows, but in Linux it is present in almost 9 out of 10 editors). I'd call some of the Linux kernel stuff innovation too (Reiser? file system).
The GIMP was to be a clone of Photoshop (or feature-wise the same). I don't recall Photoshop ever having something akin to Script-fu though (but I didn't use PS much so I could be wrong).
I see what you are getting at though. The problem with this whole desktop innovation issue (or better yet user interface) is it runs much deeper than the surface. It is incredibly hard to hide operating system and hardware design flaws with a fluffy GUI. No matter where KDE and GNOME go the underlying UNIX-like system will always be there with all of its design flaws "poking through" like weeds. Designing a new system (something like TUNES) is what really needs to happen, IMO.
Thomas Jefferson when in office actually took apart the bible and rewrote (or structured it) how he understood it. He was a self-admitted Christian, but it is not technically so. He was a deist (as Ben Franklin, Paine, Washington and a few others).
What Jefferson DID believe in the whole Christianity story was the moral aspect (Jesus was a very moral man he believed). Jefferson rewrote the bible leaving out all supernatural elements. Jefferson had a God, but Jesus was not God. Jesus was just a regular guy with higher than average morals.
I'm not sure why Jefferson claimed to be Christian since Jesus IS God within the Christian religion. Take out Jesus as God.. and what do you have left?
Must we all generalize? Not all (infact, most.. but again that is another generalization) do not care about Microsoft. To some (the hardcore free software camp) believe Sun and IBM are no less in the wrong than Microsoft, and want them gone (or changed). I also believe it was RMS himself which said Microsoft would be okay if they released their source code (giving suitable freedoms.. like BSD/GPL licenses do). I believe this all goes back to a misunderstanding of what "open source" or "free software" is, and what their goals are.
The only ones I see pushing "to kick Microsoft's butt" are the ones with money on the line. Ximian is to GNOME, RedHat is to GNOME Linux. KDE?.. well I don't believe they really care either way (they seem to truely want easy, functioning applications as opposed to playing catch-up to Microsoft). Then we have Slashdot which keeps the fuss going about Microsoft vs. Linux (note: "Linux." FreeBSD? Huh? OpenBSD? Open what??).
Some free software coders _use Windows_. Yes, that is correct. I have seen GPL'd software written explictly for VC++ and Windows' API. Not even ported to Linux, much less a *IX flavor.
Just curious.. why only command line? (if you have hardware which can run X) I used to love command line (standard text-mode EGA style), but then I discovered rxvt and how to make it look exactly like the console (correct colors, font and all). I still use a console text editor, pine, and standard gdb, but with the benefit of Netscape, Q3 and The GIMP (xv too).
Also, AFAIK, there has been a Mozilla build which runs without X (uses GTK I believe.. Gzilla or something?).. if you must go without.
b) The fact that you have freedom of information and the ability to do whatever you please with that information?
If you like all that Microsoft software, then why not use it? Why not help out with KDevelop? I sure would if I were you. I'm not so sure how large Adobe is, but I'm fairly certain the Gimp developers do not have the resources to play catch up with Photoshop. Why not help out and add another resource to the project?
>Please, people.. Wake up and focus on the things that actually MATTER.
Matter to who? You obviously. So quit IE, get out of Windows and come help your free software developers! I sure don't care about any of those things you mentioned.
I think his point was most programmers don't give a flying fuck if Joe "point-click" Bob has to use Windows.
You don't think Windows users coming to free software coders begging them to create something for _them_ is arrogant?
Personally, I'm sick of people bitching about Linux not being viable for the desktop.
The one thing that pisses me off the most is this:
Most of these ignorant Windows users just want a free operating system and software. They are not here for the ideology of freedom. THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PROGRAM SO HOW THE FUCK DO THEY USE THEIR FREEDOM GAINED? And then they have the balls to demand ALL proprietary software as FREE (BEER) SOFTWARE. Thus, destroying the job market for PROGRAMMERS. First, they leech their hobby and personal pleasure. Then they demand their professional activities revolve around creating stuff for free (beer). The original poster even went as far as insulting programmers.
It is very easy to sit on the side demanding software be free. It is a different story if your income and life is directly involved.
Suggest easier ways to do something. Fine. Claiming free software is buggy, bloated, whatever is not constructive criticism.
Otherwise.. quit being a damn free software leech and bitching. No one creating this wonderful software really gives a damn if Windows is still around in 2040. Linux will still be here. Oh, I'm sorry. All you want is high quality free (as in beer) software.
Get this in your thick skull:
MICROSOFT IS NOT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD.
If Linux was just another Windows, then whats the point? Just go buy Windows. I'm sorry, don't have the money? THAT IS NOT WHAT FREE (AS IN SPEECH, AS IN FIRST AMENDMENT, AS IN MODIFY CODE HOWEVER YOU SEE FIT BUT ABOVE ALL NOT ABOUT FREE AS IN PAY NOTHING AND LEECH OFF HARD WORKING PEOPLE) IS ABOUT. Go read gnu.org's web site for christ's sakes.
One possible reason: the people wanting Linux to "destroy" Microsoft do not know how to code. I do not want Linux to "beat" Microsoft, therefore I do not program desktop environments which resemble Windows. If I did so, it would be against my beliefs in how a desktop should operate. It would just be a clone of something I feel is awful at best.
In my opinion, Linux is better than any of Microsoft's products. I'm using Linux right now. The only direction I would like to take this system known as Linux would be towards technically enhancing it. Creating software to a lower standard to win users is not what I consider a worthy goal.
Some of the things I would like to see in Linux are better application packaging and controlling (centralized configuration database type stuff). On the desktop side there can be numerous enhancements.. such as components (think pipes for the GUI).
There are so many ways in which Linux can be enhanced, yet it seems most Slashdot readers only want it to be a Windows clone and play catch-up to Microsoft technology.
There is absolutely no reason to complain about the state of any Linux system. You can simply change the source code and use the system you have always wanted.
lol "shitwit." Such maturity on Slashdot. I'm sorry you still can't grasp this simple concept. Are you getting pissy because you work at Google and want some hot IPO action? Wow. I can't believe I'm respond.. bleh fuck off.
what the fuck are YOU talking about? Did I say who has 99.99999% of stock? No. I said the public has control. Even if its 1% they still have a vote. vote = control. I'm sorry if you are incapable of grasping that concept. Go jump down someone elses throat moron.
What is considered fine art is decided by big wigs who decide what should be considered "fine art." It has absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH QUALITY. Lemme say that again.. NOTHING. Look up Jackson Pollock. "The Great American Artist." Yeah, right. Some fine art is very good quality (IMO, of course) and has taken enourmous skill. I wouldn't spend one minute trying to convince someone computer art is "fine art." Personally some of my favorite art is those old amiga/PC demos (i.e. Future Crew). Then there is the old BBS art.. ANSI/ASCII and the like. Most people don't have a clue it existed.
I'd rather not have google go for IPO because of the simple fact that the _public_ (shareholders) would have control over the company. Keep in mind that google now owns Deja.com too. Maybe google should go non-profit? Government funds or something? They have too good of a service(s) to let the public tear it apart for the sake of raising stock price.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm assuming you don't remember the "kiss and make up" publicity stunt. I'll invite you to visit the GNOME-KDE interoperability mailing archive here.
Check out all that cooperating! Note how DnD formed in the very beginning (and was really just a matter of using existing DnD standards such as Motif). File formats are rarely discussed. Clipboards?! X has had a standard clipboard forever it seems. The only real substance I could find was talk of merging Bonobo and KParts which ended, well, nowhere.
I do have the code. It is regular C (as of now anyways). Maybe I have the wrong package.. mono-0.5.tar.gz. I have actually used OO style in C (with GTK and GNOME libraries). It is only fun to a certain degree. Soon you get tired of long function names that have to include the class name that you are working with. But this is not what really gets on my nerves. GNOME camp threw out tons of development and ideas they could have built on and insisted to rebuild much from scratch (their CORBA server comes to mind). Plus their development organization and focus is ad-hoc at best, and downright schizophrenic at worst.
They did announce an "initiative" on July 9th. Initiative means "to begin" something. Whether or not there is a little bit of source code does not matter. If the source code does not fully contribute to and achieve the overall promises, it is vapourware (and hype). The source code is merely a worm with a hook on it, enticing free software developers to bite. And to claim that their project is not vapourware, which seems to be working with you.
Good? Subjective. Clean? Subjective. Interoperable? We will see about that one. Technical superiority can only be claimed once it has been proven. Right now we can only assume software development will be better after Microsoft launches
Of course people want a free implementation. But, Ximian is selling this idea that what they are doing is technically superior. They are using OO style programming in C to implement Mono for godsakes! They must surely be aware that there are OO tools for the job. How can someone claim they are advancing software development when they, themselves, are not using _decades_ of software advancement that has taken place to boost their position? What happens when we need to advance software development more? Do we throw out
I care because people are being _misled_. When did I ever say what people must or must not do? It definitely is people's choice if they wish to volunteer or not. My point is this: GNOME has, instead of cooperating with KDE, simply misled the public about it from the start. The reason most people used to believe (and some still do) KDE was less free was because GNOME put that slant _on_ KDE. KDE was GPL from day 1. GNOME had this "holier than thou" attitude by claiming KDE was less free than GNOME. Instead of going to the source (KDE people) and attempting to talk them into a different toolkit (GTK or whatever) they simply bashed them in public. Note: Trolltech was NOT bashed. It was _KDE_ being bashed for the only decision they had at the time (QT was free for personal use, GTK was almost non-existant, not many other toolkits they could have used).
> But wait... you guys will keep complaining about GNOME altough you're using KDE or whatever!
No. I am complaining about GNOME members' ethics. Whatever desktop (if one at all) I am using is irrelavant.
They probably realize what an enormous userbase they will end up with. If they change their business model from "make money on product" to "make money on servicing product" they will see an increase in profit. It was by no means a friendly gesture to the free software ideology, but a reaction to the gaining momentum of KDE during the KDE vs. GNOME wars.
You must realize that Ximian and Trolltech are fighting for (or anticipating) the same desktop market that made Microsoft their billions. What Miguel did to KDE (cast KDE as evil and not free) was a publicity stunt so he can get his product into the spotlight and ahead of KDE. KDE was never in the wrong. They were and always have been GPL. It is Trolltech and Ximian which are attempting to make money on this "Linux desktop." Also note that Trolltech has always presented their product as it was. They did not place marketting "spins" to cast QT in a different light. Then we have GNOME saying "KDE is evil because QT is evil." No, I say GNOME is evil. They did not attempt cooperation with KDE to assure they would keep software _free_. Cooperation and sharing is the cornerstone of free software ideology. Yet GNOME threw this away by just claiming KDE is less free than GNOME. Cooperation, what's that? Instead of attempting to modify the free source code of KDE, GNOME brings C vs C++ into the battle. Is Miguel attempting to thwart developer time and energy into his own personal holy grail? Methinks so.
Agreed.
Why are we listening to this Ximian crap? Pitch us your product and shut up already.
But, there is a problem there. Ximian wants people to spend _their_ free time and energy helping Ximian make a profit. "Come help us code! Do it for the good of open source! For free software's sake!" THAT is why there is hype. The same reason GNOME was pure hype a few years ago. Remember all those promises made? A _unified_ desktop. Component interaction. They have delivered on the use of many buzzwords, but little on functionality. KDE was HERE when GNOME started. They threw KDE on the ground and KICKED it in the name of free software instead of attempting to confront the issue with KDE members. I bring this up because Ximian is to GNOME as Microsoft is to Windows.
GNOME is nothing more than an abuse of free software developers that is continuing with Mono.
The reason GNOME has made it thus far is because they (Miguel specifically) branded it as a _free_ desktop, unlike KDE (in GNOME-camp's opinion). This gained support from the free software purists. Now Ximian is attempting to get free software coders on the Mono bandwagon by spewing crap about how technically superior it is. Compared to what, Miguel? Nothing EXISTS that is comparable to this system. Infact this system does not even exist yet! It is just a pile of marketting material from a corporation. As Ximian is just another corporation on the bandwagon of another corporation. Nothing more than buzzword chasing ("We have feature X(tm)!" "Yes, but we have feature X++(tm)"). Technical superiority my ass.
I would say Enlightenment was the only (new) thing which could be considered innovation. It's mostly just eye-candy, but it does (did?) have various features which make it stand out from other window managers/desktops. Plus the speed was amazing for what it was doing (on slow X at that).
I must say this though.. innovation has been occuring in "open source" land since there was an "open source" land. It is just not as visible and usually not for people new to computers. From various languages such as CL, Scheme and Squeak (Smalltalk) to text editors (I don't recall seeing much syntax highlighting in Windows, but in Linux it is present in almost 9 out of 10 editors). I'd call some of the Linux kernel stuff innovation too (Reiser? file system).
The GIMP was to be a clone of Photoshop (or feature-wise the same). I don't recall Photoshop ever having something akin to Script-fu though (but I didn't use PS much so I could be wrong).
I see what you are getting at though. The problem with this whole desktop innovation issue (or better yet user interface) is it runs much deeper than the surface. It is incredibly hard to hide operating system and hardware design flaws with a fluffy GUI. No matter where KDE and GNOME go the underlying UNIX-like system will always be there with all of its design flaws "poking through" like weeds. Designing a new system (something like TUNES) is what really needs to happen, IMO.
Thomas Jefferson when in office actually took apart the bible and rewrote (or structured it) how he understood it. He was a self-admitted Christian, but it is not technically so. He was a deist (as Ben Franklin, Paine, Washington and a few others).
What Jefferson DID believe in the whole Christianity story was the moral aspect (Jesus was a very moral man he believed). Jefferson rewrote the bible leaving out all supernatural elements. Jefferson had a God, but Jesus was not God. Jesus was just a regular guy with higher than average morals.
I'm not sure why Jefferson claimed to be Christian since Jesus IS God within the Christian religion. Take out Jesus as God.. and what do you have left?
Must we all generalize? Not all (infact, most.. but again that is another generalization) do not care about Microsoft. To some (the hardcore free software camp) believe Sun and IBM are no less in the wrong than Microsoft, and want them gone (or changed). I also believe it was RMS himself which said Microsoft would be okay if they released their source code (giving suitable freedoms.. like BSD/GPL licenses do). I believe this all goes back to a misunderstanding of what "open source" or "free software" is, and what their goals are.
The only ones I see pushing "to kick Microsoft's butt" are the ones with money on the line. Ximian is to GNOME, RedHat is to GNOME Linux. KDE?.. well I don't believe they really care either way (they seem to truely want easy, functioning applications as opposed to playing catch-up to Microsoft). Then we have Slashdot which keeps the fuss going about Microsoft vs. Linux (note: "Linux." FreeBSD? Huh? OpenBSD? Open what??).
Some free software coders _use Windows_. Yes, that is correct. I have seen GPL'd software written explictly for VC++ and Windows' API. Not even ported to Linux, much less a *IX flavor.
Just curious.. why only command line? (if you have hardware which can run X) I used to love command line (standard text-mode EGA style), but then I discovered rxvt and how to make it look exactly like the console (correct colors, font and all). I still use a console text editor, pine, and standard gdb, but with the benefit of Netscape, Q3 and The GIMP (xv too).
Also, AFAIK, there has been a Mozilla build which runs without X (uses GTK I believe.. Gzilla or something?).. if you must go without.
>I love the concept of Linux.
Which concept:
a) The fact that you do not pay a dime for it?
b) The fact that you have freedom of information and the ability to do whatever you please with that information?
If you like all that Microsoft software, then why not use it? Why not help out with KDevelop? I sure would if I were you. I'm not so sure how large Adobe is, but I'm fairly certain the Gimp developers do not have the resources to play catch up with Photoshop. Why not help out and add another resource to the project?
>Please, people.. Wake up and focus on the things that actually MATTER.
Matter to who? You obviously. So quit IE, get out of Windows and come help your free software developers! I sure don't care about any of those things you mentioned.
I think his point was most programmers don't give a flying fuck if Joe "point-click" Bob has to use Windows.
You don't think Windows users coming to free software coders begging them to create something for _them_ is arrogant?
Personally, I'm sick of people bitching about Linux not being viable for the desktop.
The one thing that pisses me off the most is this:
Most of these ignorant Windows users just want a free operating system and software. They are not here for the ideology of freedom. THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PROGRAM SO HOW THE FUCK DO THEY USE THEIR FREEDOM GAINED? And then they have the balls to demand ALL proprietary software as FREE (BEER) SOFTWARE. Thus, destroying the job market for PROGRAMMERS. First, they leech their hobby and personal pleasure. Then they demand their professional activities revolve around creating stuff for free (beer). The original poster even went as far as insulting programmers.
It is very easy to sit on the side demanding software be free. It is a different story if your income and life is directly involved.
Suggest easier ways to do something. Fine. Claiming free software is buggy, bloated, whatever is not constructive criticism.
If you want it to dominate the world...
CODE WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!
Otherwise.. quit being a damn free software leech and bitching. No one creating this wonderful software really gives a damn if Windows is still around in 2040. Linux will still be here. Oh, I'm sorry. All you want is high quality free (as in beer) software.
Get this in your thick skull:
MICROSOFT IS NOT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD.
If Linux was just another Windows, then whats the point? Just go buy Windows. I'm sorry, don't have the money? THAT IS NOT WHAT FREE (AS IN SPEECH, AS IN FIRST AMENDMENT, AS IN MODIFY CODE HOWEVER YOU SEE FIT BUT ABOVE ALL NOT ABOUT FREE AS IN PAY NOTHING AND LEECH OFF HARD WORKING PEOPLE) IS ABOUT. Go read gnu.org's web site for christ's sakes.
One possible reason: the people wanting Linux to "destroy" Microsoft do not know how to code. I do not want Linux to "beat" Microsoft, therefore I do not program desktop environments which resemble Windows. If I did so, it would be against my beliefs in how a desktop should operate. It would just be a clone of something I feel is awful at best.
In my opinion, Linux is better than any of Microsoft's products. I'm using Linux right now. The only direction I would like to take this system known as Linux would be towards technically enhancing it. Creating software to a lower standard to win users is not what I consider a worthy goal.
Some of the things I would like to see in Linux are better application packaging and controlling (centralized configuration database type stuff). On the desktop side there can be numerous enhancements.. such as components (think pipes for the GUI).
There are so many ways in which Linux can be enhanced, yet it seems most Slashdot readers only want it to be a Windows clone and play catch-up to Microsoft technology.
There is absolutely no reason to complain about the state of any Linux system. You can simply change the source code and use the system you have always wanted.
lol "shitwit." Such maturity on Slashdot. I'm sorry you still can't grasp this simple concept. Are you getting pissy because you work at Google and want some hot IPO action? Wow. I can't believe I'm respond.. bleh fuck off.
what the fuck are YOU talking about? Did I say who has 99.99999% of stock? No. I said the public has control. Even if its 1% they still have a vote. vote = control. I'm sorry if you are incapable of grasping that concept. Go jump down someone elses throat moron.
What is considered fine art is decided by big wigs who decide what should be considered "fine art." It has absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH QUALITY. Lemme say that again.. NOTHING. Look up Jackson Pollock. "The Great American Artist." Yeah, right. Some fine art is very good quality (IMO, of course) and has taken enourmous skill. I wouldn't spend one minute trying to convince someone computer art is "fine art." Personally some of my favorite art is those old amiga/PC demos (i.e. Future Crew). Then there is the old BBS art.. ANSI/ASCII and the like. Most people don't have a clue it existed.
I'd rather not have google go for IPO because of the simple fact that the _public_ (shareholders) would have control over the company. Keep in mind that google now owns Deja.com too. Maybe google should go non-profit? Government funds or something? They have too good of a service(s) to let the public tear it apart for the sake of raising stock price.