Ubuntu embraces Unity and Wayland. Or, GNU/Linux is exciting again

“After installing Ubuntu 10.10, I had a strange feeling I was
seeing something that was already old. Yes, Ubuntu is a fantastic
desktop system, and yes it’s better than Windows. But today, in
2010, that’s almost a given. And that’s not enough. The IT world is
changing, and PCs themselves as a whole are getting old. The mass
is moving towards tablets, mobiles machines, and netbooks. Ubuntu,
the way it is today, might be the best choice in a dinosaur world.
I can’t read Mark Shuttleworth’s mind, but I can only guess this is
exactly what he felt when he decided to switch to Unity (for the
UI) and Wayland (for the graphics architecture). Let me explain
what all of this means.

“Unity and Wayland

“When Ubuntu seemed to have reached a placid stability (which is
not a good thing, if you ask me, when applied to software), Mark
Shuttleworth came out with two incredible steps: the first one, was
to switch to Unity. The second one was to abandon xorg and move to
Wayland.

“The switch to Unity is major. In fact, I would go as far as
saying that it’s the bravest thing a GNU/Linux distribution has
ever done. Basically, with Unity you throw away the desktop analogy
with your computer, and you embrace the “computer as a tool”
analogy.”

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