Linux isn't ready for the Desktop ...

[Rik van Riel]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003, Keith G. Robertson-Turner wrote:

> 3) ... They are really tired of "featuritus" software, that looks
> pretty, but destroys their data, and causes them to spend more time
> re-installing than working.

I'm really curious whether any of the desktop developers
will rise to this challenge and focus on making the
programs simpler, smaller and more reliable, so they can
be run on last year's hardware and used without confusing
the user.

The trend towards snazzier, more eye-candy is disturbing
from a user's point of view.  Especially when the user
doesn't really want to upgrade his computer, but spend
the money on something more fun.

> So is Linux ready for the Desktop? I think a more pertinent question is,
> has Windows outlived *it's* usefulness on the Desktop?
> 
> Two questions; same answer.
> 
> Yes.

I'm not convinced these answers are true yet, but I suspect
they will be in the forseeable future...

-- 
"Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place.
Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are,
by definition, not smart enough to debug it." - Brian W. Kernighan