TheLinuxGurus.org: What Linux Really Needs To Survive

[ Thanks to David
Culp for this link. ]

“Nothing.”

“I suppose I should clarify the above statement. I have been
reading quite a bit lately on the imminent demise of Linux. News of
falling stock prices, distributions cutting their U.S operations,
the inherent (untrue) difficulty of installing, using and
administering Linux has led many reporters to report that Linux
cannot survive, it will dry up and blow away. Other reporters have
even written off base articles stating what Linux needs to do to
survive (well, more off base then this article). Many Linux users
like to attribute this as FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt)
sponsored by Microsoft. As to whether Microsoft actually pays
writers to write this dribble I do not know, but I want to add my
two cents into the fray….”

“Linux needs a unified and standard user interface in order to
survive. This is the argument that really boils my blood. The day
that Linux gets locked into a standard look and feel user interface
is the day I begin finding a new OS. One of the main reasons I and
probably a majority of people use Linux is it gives you a lot of
choices. If you do not like KDE for whatever reason I am perfectly
fine with that choice, there are many other alternatives. In fact,
I will often times use a different desktop and window manager on a
daily basis just for a change, its refreshing. Once again, I think
that this is one the great features and attractions of Linux, it
holds something for just about anyone. You can run a highly
customizable window manager with lots of wiz-bang features and eye
candy or a very minimalistic window manager, its your choice. Your
desktop and GUI interface are amazingly customizable to whatever
you want. Contrary to popular belief you can run KDE apps on GNOME
and GNOME apps on KDE, you just have to have the appropriate
libraries installed, I do it all the time.”

Complete
Story