[ale] RH Upgrade

[aaron]

On Tuesday 06 May 2003 11:58, John Wells wrote:
> aaron said:
> > I haven't explored RH9 personally, but the bits I've read suggest that
> > it  continues down the same [sorry] GUI path as 8.0. I think all the
> > shortcomings  stem from the RH effort to crunch Gnome and KDE into a
> > clone minded, locked  down "Trade Mark" look and feel conglomeration.
> 
> Good for furthering widespread acceptance of Linux in the desktop
> market...bad for those 133t linux hax0rs that require everything to be
> designed *there* way.

Despite the countless past failures of challenging the winblows monopoly 
through imitation, and ignoring the prooven "Differentiate or Die" rules for 
survival in a saturated market, my complaint does NOT lie in a Linux OS 
distribution company or an OSS interface group cloning the Lowest Common 
Denominator UI to leverage its familiarity. The complaint is when the 
imitation is employed through a monopolist methodology that EXCLUDES all the 
more rational options. (Knowing that "One Size" never fits all, I'm not 
arguing that any single one of those more rational options should be the 
exclusive choice either.)

The problem is that RedHat is adopting the worst case user environment in a 
way that cripples access to, and evolution of, superior alternatives. I think 
this approach to branding their interface is, at the heart of it, contrary to 
open source principles because it removes choices and flexibility from the 
community. As Marvin Dickens noted elsewhere in this thread, their approach 
is already generating core incompatibilities which will quickly end up 
handicapping or deterring the cooperative advantages of open source 
development.

> I personally like Bluecurve and its attempt to consolidate the desktop,
> but that's my opinion.  Still, if people really wish to see Linux compete
> with M$ on the desktop, efforts like Bluecurve are necessary and a little
> bit past due.

I personally dislike Metacity and the Bluecurve environments, but am glad to 
have them out there among the open source choices, at least so long as they 
aren't being foisted on people as the only choice.

Obviously, I don't think that they represent an effective way to compete with 
the criminal monopoly on the desktop. If Red Hat continues down an 
exclusionary road with their consolidation attempts it will only serve to 
alienate the most essential and supportive elements of their user and 
developer base while they walk into anonymity as a faceless clone among the 
common crowds. As the Red Hat company is among the most visible and 
acknowledged flagships of Linux and Open Source that we have, their moves 
toward proprietary restrictions and limitations could seriously hurt the 
community.

peace
aaron



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