Desktop Linux
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This article or section is written like a personal reflection or essay and may require cleanup. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (December 2007) |
Desktop Linux, also Linux on the desktop, is where the Linux operating system is installed on a personal computer and is setup for personal use. The term is intended to clarify this usage from other roles, such as, using Linux as a server. The two roles are similar at their core, because they rely on the Linux kernel. However, desktop Linux will usually have more "end user" software packages installed. Some Linux distributions have targeted the desktop role specifically. Other distributions include a superset of all of the software available for the platform. In that case, the user may be given the choice to select either a "desktop" or "server" type when the operating system is installed.
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[edit] History
Historically, UNIX and other Unix-like operating systems have been utilized on servers, mainframes, and workstations in corporate or scientific environments. Beginning in the latter 90s, a few Linux distribution companies, such as MandrakeSoft, began to advertise their systems for low-end desktop computers.
[edit] Desktop Environments
Linux offers many desktop alternatives. The most popular desktop environments are GNOME, KDE and XFCE. These are rather large collections of desktop programs, rather than bare bone window managers such as FVWM, IceWM amongst numerous others. These environments present a GUI using a desktop metaphor. All of these environments allow the user to set many personal preferences and to perform common system management tasks. The compiz environment expands upon the concept of having multiple desktops by rendering each of the user's two dimensional desktops on the surface of a three dimensional cube.
Regardless of the source, all Linux desktop applications use the X Window System and thus benefit from features like networking (remote display) and quick mouse-only Cut, copy, and paste. Mouse selected text is automatically copied, and it can then be pasted using a middle click, without the need to resort to use of the keyboard.[1]
Desktop Linux environments have been improving in appearance and overall integration over time. This has led to wider adoption of the platform over time.[2]
- See also: Desktop adoption of Linux
[edit] Applications
Most Linux distributions provide a program for browsing a list of thousands of free software applications that have already been tested and configured for a specific distribution. These free programs can be downloaded and installed with one mouse click. [2][3] A digital signature guarantees that the program was not modified after the download package was created [4] and the package manager automatically tracks and installs updates as they become available.
Besides the free Windows compatibility layer Wine, most distributions offer Dual boot and X86 virtualization for running both Linux and Windows on the same computer.
On the other hand, Desktop Linux has been maligned for its lack of name-brand applications in comparison to its proprietary software counterparts, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Desktop Linux advocates have blamed the more recognized application vendors, such as Adobe Systems, for their alleged shunning of Desktop Linux systems and users in favor of users of either Windows or Mac OS X.[citation needed]. However the current trend is toward web-based applications such as Gmail and Flickr, which lessens the importance of this factor.
[edit] Year of Desktop Linux
Since at least 2001, a meme known as "(year) will be the year of Linux on the Desktop" has been published by a number of tech-related magazines and websites[3], referring to the prior year's experiences of supposed "gains" for Linux adoption by business corporations; these gains can vary in reason, such as the installation of a Linux distribution onto the desktops of workers for organizations or companies who may not be immediately or otherwise involved in the computing industry, or the acceleration of development for specific applications which find their greatest usages on desktop Linux distributions, or the pre-installation of specific Linux distributions onto personal computers being sold by PC manufacturers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, or other corporations.[4]
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Performance
The performance of Linux on the desktop has been a controversial topic, with at least one key Linux kernel developer, Con Kolivas, accusing the Linux community of favouring performance on servers. He quit Linux development because he was frustrated with this lack of focus on the desktop, and then gave a 'tell all' interview on the topic.[5]
Other sources, such as mainstream press The Economist disagree with this assessment that there has not been enough focus on desktop Linux, saying in December 2007:
...Linux has swiftly become popular in small businesses and the home...That’s largely the doing of Gutsy Gibbon, the code-name for the Ubuntu 7.10 from Canonical. Along with distributions such as Linspire, Mint, Xandros, OpenSUSE and gOS, Ubuntu (and its siblings Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu) has smoothed most of Linux’s geeky edges while polishing it for the desktop...It’s now simpler to set up and configure than Windows.[6]
[edit] Measuring adoption
Measuring the adoption of Linux on the desktop is a difficult proposition and this has caused controversy as to how many users there actually are.[7]
As Linux systems are typically downloaded, copied and distributed for free, the usual methods of tracking sales numbers do not apply in gauging numbers of Linux desktop users. This use of website counters to identify operating systems also does not produce reliable numbers, due to such factors as:[7]
- individual websites do not attract a representative sample, due to their content.[7]
- spoofing of addesses.[7]
- problems tagging identification strings as to Linux or even distribution results in high numbers of "unknown operating system".[7]
- identifying computers that operate from behind proxies.[7]
- the multiplying effects of botnets which tend to create the illusion of more insecure PCs, running systems such as Windows.[7]
- the false assumption that all PCs are connected to the internet and used for web browsing.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ About, Inc (2008). Linux Newbie Administrator FAQ: X-Windows. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ Deploying KDE to 52 Million Students in Brazil [1], Retrieved May 2, 2008.
- ^ 2008 - Year of Linux Desktop
- ^ Strohmeyer, Robert (June 2007). 2008: Year of the Linux Desktop. Retrieved on 2008-05-23.
- ^ Linux: why I quit. APC Magazine. ACP Magazines (2007-07-24). Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
- ^ Economist.com (December 2007). Technology in 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Schestowitz, Roy (July 2007). Can Linux Adoption Ever be Accurately Gauged?. Retrieved on 2008-05-23.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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