Another Monday is fixing to wrap itself up for the the day, and after doing some reading up over the last few weeks; there is a topic that I can't seem to shake out of my mind. The direction of the very popular Linux distribution (and my personal fav); Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an excellent operating system for new converts to the world of Linux and open-source software. Canonical is obviously very progressive in their ideas (something other distro's seem to be lacking). And for that I definitely give them props.
However; changing from the GNOME or KDE desktop environments to offer the Unity Desktop Environment, is a pretty risky jump. I sincerely hope Canonical will make it easy to use GNOME or KDE. It's not that I have anything against the Unity Desktop Environment; because I don't. Personally, I think it's looking pretty sharp. And for a netbook or a tablet, it looks to be an ideal way to navigate the OS. But for a full fledge desktop install (yes, some people still use these beasts); I would prefer using a fuller featured desktop environment. And from best I can tell the community of user's seem to be split on the decision.
Here is a screen shot of 10.04 running Unity:
Another change from the norm recently announced is that Ubuntu will be trying to move away from X for the windows manager, and picking up Wayland instead. Personally, I would be more open to this change as opposed to being forced to use Unity. However, I am also aware that it's not like Ubuntu will be rocking Wayland when Natty comes out in April either. That change will take some time to implement. I think we can all agree that X has it's issues and seems to be somewhat cumbersome at times.
Regardless of the changes coming to Ubuntu, it's still a wonderful system. And once Natty hits the world, I will still recommend new user's checkout Ubuntu. But, depending on the options given about the desktop environment; I'll either use Natty and use GNOME, stay on 10.10 for the time being, or might spread my horizons and try other Linux distributions whom I may have overlooked.
So whatever you're stance on Linux, Ubuntu, or open-source may be...It's a great time to be a geek!
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