The is pretty well protected and funded because the ENTIRE WORLD depends on it, let alone being open source, it's well audited by the community.
As for the rest of your post, Linux isn't a monolith ... well, actually "Linux" is (literally a monolithic kernel), but Linux as an eco-system, GNU/Linux and compatible software is all disparate parties doing their own things.
What you're suggesting is akin to "The highways agency needs to decide on a standard shape/size/colour for cars and vans and trucks. The roads are messy with all these different shades and shapes, feature sets and price brackets".
No, "Linux" as you're referring to it has to remain diverse to survive. Development hours aren't lost on competing projects because many of those developers aren't interested in developing those other projects, they're interested in the ones they're doing, if they go away so would many of those developers along with the users who like those projects.
You can't command people to use their personal time to do work they aren't interested in and to do it a certain way. They'll just tell you where to shove it.
It barely works with businesses either, they'll just switch to another platform if they're told they're not welcome on their usual platform unless they change what/how they operate.
E2A: Gnome's losing supporting left and right because they've been doing that, hence S76 developing their own DE now, Cinnamon & Mate, let alone there being all the WMs and other DEs, all of which have their fans because they better suit the needs and desires of those users.
Software is a tool. We make tools to fit the needs and requirements of the users, we don't make the users and needs fit the tools.
MY personal opinion on why Linux isn't more popular is because of the accessibility of most standard applications that are easily available on windows. That's just my opinion, though.
They didnât accept them, they submitted them and were rejected.
The self monitoring is pretty on point. I think gnome is a good example of this. When every week GTK3 was broken from last weeks GTK3. gnome has been ignoring reality and running amok for a long time. Myself and seemingly half the plannet ditched gnome when 3 came out. Years later itâs still this odd delusional bloated chunk of the ecosystem.
Worse to me though is my point about projects making it easy on themselves. This is a double edged sword because if you allow all possibilities you may just not have the man power or money to support things and upkeep. However when they break that user choice modularity things become like a subpar Apple situation and you will probably lose users to Apple if their take is âitâs like Apple but crappy.â
The laptop photoshop example is why I noted people want what they want and this is why big companies dump so much into marketing. If people want it they want it and to hell with âdoes it work.â This is a shallow take because this gets far more complex. Itâs also impressive that she was open to these changes. Most times even just getting people to switch from Office to Libre/Open Office was a âNO YOU PUT OFFICE BACK ON!â People are either super brain washed or they can not tolerate any small change in work flow. They want the same icons in the same place that do the same thing or FREAK OUT! This again is why modularity is important for Linux moving forward. Everyone seems to think their new redesign is sexy and will attract people but it really drives them away. Give people an obvious choice for the new or the old youâve been using for the last 20 years. again this treads on the âwe donât have the resources to support such legacy stuff in the code baseâ but itâs super important. Even now look at the debacle with Ubuntu saying they were going to do away with legacy 32bit. The outcry from all those old games and software that would be killed off despite being âobsolete.â (this is MEGA true for office workers) They have deadlines, management nagging for dumb crap. They DO NOT want to have to pause everything to relearn where everything is because some dev had some crazy idea to move, change and redesign everything.
As for the big / popular programs donât exist on Linux thatâs true but also kind off point. For example Final Cut or Logic doesnât exist on Windows either. My paid for and proprietary DAW IS available on Linux. There are a handful of highend proprietary things that are platform specific or simply have no equal on the *nix side. When you think about users who use these things they often pick their platform based on that eco system, again bringing back that discussion of âkiller apps.â This is where the *nix eco system (to be popular) needs to excel at what it does. Apple pulls this off by limiting users, and this is what I see the *nix projects doing more and more. Take away user choice and they canât break thingsâŚor use them. Windows is now going that direction too. Good for support, good for monetization, bad for users. This is where if *nix is to out do those other two modularity and user choice needs to be the focus. The problem is thatâs resource intensive (for projects already in the lowest tier for resources) and the choices weâre given right now are largely cryptic or false. I kinda hate to quote Metallica but âYou can do it your own way - If itâs done just how I say.â Things that used to be open are now closed or limited. Compatibility broken by choice.
Linux canât be marketed because itâs not really a thing in that sense. Itâs just the kernel and Linus doesnât care about marketing. Linux as the colloquial term for the FOSS/GNU ecosystem is too fractured to be marketed in any coherant way and by whom? BUY THE NEW ls! Itâs free and now has better options for âcolor!
Itâs not just GTK vs Qt. Every damn DE has itâs own tool kit these days and there is never cross consideration. When you install applications somehow the dependancies for ensuing it can fit your system theme wise and never considered dependancies. Either way youâre 100% this stupidity needs to stop. However this is a complex topic and brushes up against Open Source itself needs to stop because anyone can fork something and now there is again another tool kit, thing, version of basically the same thing to divide and fracture everything. Itâs a catch22 that kinda has to be. Which is why I think the only semi sane solution is toolkits need to have built in and automatic theme cohesion. Why do I have to manually install qt5ct and set it to look like my gtk themes? IT CAN ALREADY DO IT SO FLIPPING DO IT! Same goes all the other ways. GTK apps on a KDE DE just adapt you flipping snow flake! KDE apps on an Elightenment DEâŚADAPT!
They have been looking at Rust for the kerel but C is still king for a lot of valid reasons. C++ can die in a fire heh. There are a lot of talks about why C++ and other âmodernâ or fancy languages are explicitly NOT used and being stuck in your ways isnât the issue.
I love tech but Iâve been watching it implode now for 20ish years. I donât care if youâre using Apple, Microsoft, BSD, or one of the many other thingsâŚ(Amiga OS and Plan 9 are still in use!) The reality is things are getting real bad for a host of reasons. This topic is actually near and dear because it touches on why Iâve been watching and warning people for 20+ years about these things. However the scope of things has become far far too large for anyone to really correct the course. Google played the long game now even massive companies like Apple and Microsoft are hostages. Itâs a real mess (just like the normal world heh).
Exactly why I argue against the "oh we just need more cheap garbage hardware with Linux to attract more users." rational tossed out in here. The attraction to Linux has to be because people care about learning, freedom/their rights and because those are the features they demand.
Also conformity. There is no real top-down approach in linux, conformity, centralized standards, they are all missing. If someone doesnât like a distroâs approach, they go off and make their own, and that is why we are flooded with them. That is never going to be a way into the mainstream.
I use to want an Apple-like standard so it would catch on. I mean Ubuntu tried it, desktop/phone, and it all failed. I donât think the current linux model, if there is one, can shape itself into a dumb-down user usability the masses demand.
Now I just want my geeky OS and to be left alone. Who wants to educate the Microsoft borg? I am too old for that crap. Let linux be our dirty little secret, so dirty.
I'll agree on leave it alone but I see things moving to the Apple style of user choice restriction. Firefox is a great offender of lots of these things (but it's not the sole offender). Starting with no longer working with alsa only systems. Then how many times have they broken user layout/workflow choices "because."
This is why I loathe updates anymore. Things are like when politicians try to pass a bill...This bill ensures clean water...and don't pay attention to the biotracking/ident stuff on page 3. These updates are for SECURITY...and BTW we killed all the UI features you use and removed a few cli options/flags so you can't do those other things you did and but...SECURITY!
My thoughts, exactly. Folks that have been using Linux for a minute or two have witnessed its staggering growth as a (desktop or server) operating system since its inception. Personally, I do not believe Linux would be where it is today, without the innovation that decentralization has brought to the OS. Anyone not understanding that concept needs to read The Cathedral and the Bazaar.
Anyone who has not read it, needs to right this minute. I usually let you assclowns do your own web searches, but this topic and its author are so integral to Linux that here it is: The Cathedral and the Bazaar, by Eric S. Raymond
To answer your question? What, in your opinion, prevents a Linux DE from become even harder, better, faster, stronger
As linux has aready taken over the world Some may need to think about this 1
And this just my opinion!
A very old saying
Two many cooks spoil the broth?
IIRC, They were first warned and their PR was declined. Then, again they commited insecure code and then they were banned. Donât worry, every PR is thoroughly checked by Mr. Linus and team.
Do you have any solution? Is it really viable to ditch one of them? Or merge them into one? I donât think it is feasible atm.
Because Rust Lang is very very new. It was released in 2010. Plus, there are very little people with good enough experience in rust lang till date.
Secondly, Linux kernel have been adding support for devices, and not removing the support for even very old hardware. This is very important, because Linux is supporting even 20th century hardware. And nobody is leisure enough to rewrite and test code on decade old machines.
Third, who told you that rust lang is ignored? Ubuntuâs rewriting the installer in rust (idk if its done, but surely they were working on it.)
Fourth, you sure that competing operating systems are using rust lang?
Finally, I would like to conclude that Linux is already better, faster and stronger than competing os.
Faster: In my workflow, Linux is much faster than other OS.
Startup finished in 3.743s (kernel) + 4.469s (userspace) = 8.213s
graphical.target reached after 4.467s in userspace
That is boot time on Pentium G2020 machine with just 4 Gigs of RAM with Garuda Linux, the hardware that canât run even windows 10 smoothly.
Also see
I donât think that I have to say or write anything else to prove the Linux superiority.
Stronger : Linux is imo, securer than other operating system.
I believe that no operating system can be perfect. Also, you canât say than OS A is better than OS C. It is better to say OS A is faster than OS B in most of the head to head benchmarks for given hardware.
Also, it is difficult to say any OS is securer. The best we can say is that given OS has less vulnerabilities than other OS, which is true for Linux.
I agree with you on these points, but I also want to add something of my own.
1. Ancient shit from the pits of software hell
Here's a rant: most of the default core desktop software in Linux distros â â â â â â â sucks. Pulseaudio sucks, systemd sucks, Xorg sucks, Wayland sucks, GNOME sucks, KDE is mostly fine, but some quirks here and there are still present. All of this software is ancient as hell and yet only a few distros support alternatives. And almost everything on this list has an alternative that's better. And if you're a new distro dev, it might be very tempting to just choose all (or some) of this stuff and change some visuals around with a couple of apps thrown here and there. And one of the core reasons for this is the next rant.
2. It would be the greatest mistake to think (c) V. I. Lenin
People don't want to choose between one and another. It's too complicated for them and they want stuff that just works. As Linus said (in the 2nd episode I believe) "I want the fast and easy solution". And Linux distros fail to accomplish his definition of fast and simple. It's a compromise between the head pain of devs and the experience of users. And devs don't want to do the hard stuff. They want to do it fast and simple, just pull and push. Although, I am still arguing that you can manage to provide a great desktop experience while not abandoning the KISS and Suckless principles (these philosophies are famous for being hard for users but simple for devs), and I'm working on it currently.
3. Lack of independent software
Since devs don't like to think either, they use libraries that depend on other libraries instead of the right tools for the job. Therefore, we get bloat. And broken software. The only way to fix this is to make software that is controlled only by your team and nobody else. If somebody else is involved in your project - you should add them to your team and start paying them. Which leads me to my next point.
4. A weird distribution of money
A typical distro is not paid for. But (most) people don't like to work for free. Under this economic system (capitalism) people still want to consume and (re)produce, so only a hand full of people are ready to work on Linux for free. And, on the other hand, the people who are paid for Linux probably hate their job because big corporations like Google and Microsoft are literally evil. Everybody knows that. And the smaller corporations are no different because they are already bought or are about to be bought by the bigger ones. Another stress factor. So we get people who are not qualified for the development and people who don't care. Great.
(Probably) The right thing to do would be to actually start something like what you described - a fan-oriented donation campaign, although without completely killing off the original ideas of the devs for the peoples fun. Just some merch, some art, some non-commercial help for our brothers and sisters and others.
My I issue with the donate system and I do like the idea of donating is I wish there was a system that instead of me donating a few dollars to this thing or that thing is I wish I could donate a set amount, and it gets distributed to various places or something like that. Like I donât know which projects I use that need more help than others and I canât afford to help them all, all the time, and wish there was some kind of system to help me with that. Like say, I set it up to donate say $10 a month and that service has some kind of way either through a voting system, a grant proposal system or whatever to decide where to put different amounts of money thatâs donated, or you can go into a list and select the projects that are allowed to receive money you donate. Maybe that is a big undertaking no one wants to do but it would be kinda awesome to have.
About the last one - I believe we live in time when IT is controlled by business in one or another way. And business creates concurrency.
Of course you can spend 10 years code something great, but probably in the end nobody will pay you for your stuff because:
a) somebody did it faster then you and success on the market
b) your result will be a piece of shit (hello Cyberprank 2077 and Mount and Blade 2)
So I strongly believe, that old developers, who love development then money, need to invent a way to somehow do only that work they like, automate as most as possible routine stuff and be on the same wave with the market.
For example, I donate to Garuda 10 euro every month. I can donate more, but I haven't have a stimulus to do that.
What I like to see - this is like kind of transparent points, where I decide how much I want to donate for every.
Like e.g. Garuda has 3 points:
Servers
Gnome
KDE
Lol, I don't care about Gnome, let it die in hell, I want to spend my money to support servers and KDE.
Or another system of voting, where in the end of a month devs say "ok guys we have 1000 bucks, where should we invest they?" and we are voting with likes or something.
Some may need to think about this 1
