September 2009 Archives
I watched it. I kept score. Everyone keeps saying what a nice guy Mark is. Well, maybe so, but even nice guys have their blind spots. I don't believe that nice guys belittle and exclude women, and that is what happened in this keynote. I believe that an apology is in order, both for the unfortunate thread of exclusion and sexism that runs the entire length of the talk, and for not understanding that dumb stuff like that distracts from the talk itself. That is unfortunate, because if you take away the dumb stuff it is an important and excellent presentation.
Possible futures for the Linux desktop - the full list from LinuxCon:
"1. It goes away.
2. We stop using desktops, so who cares?
3. The Linux desktop becomes a tactic instead of a strategy.
4. One Linux desktop distribution ends up with 90% marketshare among those using Linux desktops.
5. One Linux desktop distribution ends up with 90% marketshare among all desktops.
6. We reach 33% / 33% / 33% parity with Microsoft® Windows® / Apple® Mac OS® / Linux, plus or minus.
7. We stop pretending that it will be a drop-in replacement for the dominant desktop operating system, and make it something better.
8. The enterprise sweet spot for Linux desktops is virtualized Linux desktops.
9. We focus on usability, stability, security, reliability, performance, with some cool thrown in.
10. It's the browser, stupid."
What's wrong with this list?
But it has some quirks that some days make me want to slap Firefox silly, like when it crashes and there are multiple Firefox windows open, all of them vanish. This is the sort of thing that makes me wonder if Firefox isn't just a little too Windows-happy.
What the heck happened?
Don Whitbeck settles the question of "Linux has too many choices" once and for all with irrefutable logic:"Let's just have one flavor of ice cream. How about vanilla? All that choice is bewildering. "
Ken has inspired other people to launch similar projects and has his own little herd of Merry Penguins; that is, people who pitch in and help. But the time has come when the tireless Ken has to slow down a bit, and needs some more hands on deck. Perhaps one of them can be you.
