Open Source Now!: Desktop wars weakens Linux adoption

As new releases continue to roll out, distros remain undecided where the desktop should go. This confusion and indecesiveness could prove to be the most serious undoing for the linux desktop adoption. If famed 'choice' in linux ecosystem is proving to be a mirage, trouble free installation and usage has become the major casuality.

Gnome Shell 3.8 on Linux Mint 15

Gnome 3 Shell on Linux Mint 15

With Ubuntu in its new release 13.04 claiming to stabilize Unity, but in the same breath saying that this version will be obsolete in 6 months, leaves one wondering when Canonical will really become serious about reaching its 200 million user target. Unity Next, a magnificant dream of unifying desktop, tablet, television etc., is set to takeover from the next release.

Attention at this time therefore was prudently only on stability and performance issues of Unity. This undoubtatly will be a welcome development to all Ubuntu users. The dash has become more responsive. Social media integration brings in tweets and posts to the 'social lens'. I am not sure how many users will like using 'social lens' as a twitter client.

However, much of the features and issues remain the same. Very little attention has been paid to improvements to anything outside the dash, including the omnipresent laucher, calander, quicklist etc. The predominant reaction is that Canonical is focusing only on the left side of the destop.

Ubuntu Next, the next generation user interface integrating desktop, smart phones, tablets and televisions is an ambitious project. This will run on Mir display server, abandoning the venerable X Windows system. Together this is a formidable challenge, and many users doubt whether Cananical has the critical developer mass to pull through a seamless transition.

Gnome Shell has come out with a few cautious reforms with its 3.8 relase. Search in the overview mode has improved to include documents, files and contacts etc. A new 'classic mode' brings the traditional Gnome 2ish destop to those who sorely miss the traditional desktop and has gone after Cinnamon and MATE. More online accounts integration has been provided.

The major downside is the continued slaughter of Natutilus. Feature after feature is being removed in the name of improvement. Now it is no more possible to right click and create a new file. Nemo is an good alternative, but it seems to be not fit for Gnome 3.8 as yet.

I am not particularly floored either by MATE or Cinnamon. Basically both are poor substitutes for Gnome Shell, though a shade better than Unity. With the 'classic mode' in Gnome 3.8, Nemo file manager remains the only serious project that has some value. The Cinnamon menu still needs some 10 seconds to think before opening.

I was using Cinnamon with Linux Mint 14 before upgtading to Linux Mint 15. Cinnamon refused to run on my laptop, Dell XPS 17z. I had to install Gnome Shell, and later when I upgraded to Gnome 3.8, I lost Cinnamon and Nemo. Otherwise, the system is fine. Heating issue persists, but under control using TLP, as Jupitor is no more supported.

KDE continues to have an entusiastic crowd around it, though it is more and more receding to be the main stream DM. The most feature rich desktop, is also the most buggy one. But, many continue to love it. XFCE and other minor players also have a vociferous crowd around them.

Confusion that is seen all around continues to distract users. I am shifting from learning to align with one workflow after another. In Linux Mint 12 I had used Gnome 3. It was Gnome Shell in Linux Mint 13, Cinnamon in Linux Mint 14, and I am back to Gnome Shell in Linux Mint 15. Though I like Gnome Shell, it is not the main desktop of Linux Mint. I like Linux Mint more than any other distro due to its polish, but I am not sure I can have a working Gnome Shell in the next release.

With no clear path forward, desktop Linux mainstreaming will remain a mirage.