I’m living happily with my Palm TX, but I’m already thinking about what comes next. (It would be nice to have a multitasking operating system.)
There has always been a lot of overlap between the Mac and Palm worlds. The original developers were Apple refugees. I know this is facile, but as I look at what has passed and what’s been announced for the future, I start drawing parallels between Apple’s operating systems and Palm’s:
$ grep ub$ /usr/share/dict/words
| ruby -ne "print split(/(\s+)/).map{|w|w.capitalize}"
| xargs -I FOOB echo "FOOBuntu"
| column
Bathtubuntu Interclubuntu Strubuntu
Bedaubuntu Knubuntu Stubuntu
Bedubuntu Misdaubuntu Subuntu
Beelzebubuntu Moneygrubuntu Subshrubuntu
Blubuntu Nubuntu Succubuntu
Bubuntu Ouroubuntu Swilltubuntu
Cherubuntu Overscrubuntu Trillibubuntu
Chubuntu Pubuntu Trubuntu
Clubuntu Redaubuntu Tubuntu
Cubuntu Redubuntu Unclubuntu
Daubuntu Rerubuntu Undaubuntu
Disdubuntu Rescrubuntu Underclubuntu
Drubuntu Resnubuntu Undergrubuntu
Dubuntu Reubuntu Underscrubuntu
Flubuntu Roubuntu Undershrubuntu
Flubdubuntu Rubuntu Undertubuntu
Fubuntu Sandclubuntu Undubuntu
Gaubuntu Scrubuntu Washtubuntu
Glubuntu Semishrubuntu Woodgrubuntu
Grubuntu Shrubuntu Zebubuntu
Hubuntu Sillabubuntu Zermahbubuntu
Hubbubuntu Slubuntu
Inrubuntu Snubuntu
I got the idea for this after listening to a recent LugRadio podcast. They’re all about Ubuntu. If you didn’t know, Ubuntu is a Linux distribution that has begun sprouting similarly-named offshoots like Kubuntu and Edubuntu and whatnot.
ITConversations has posted a second talk from OSCON 2005, Asa Dotzler’s “Linux: In Search of the Desktop”. The talk grew out of a controversial blog posting Asa made, which was then slashdotted.
I agree with most of what he says. I shouldn’t be surprised at the number of people who disagreed with his basic assumption – that Linux has a place in the mainstream desktop computing world – but I am. This argument (“Linux should not try to accommodate regular people”) is, well, stupid. There will always be obscure distributions for people who enjoy being obscure. Or they can move to NetBSD or QNX or unpack their Amiga. I sympathize with the desire – I use Postfix instead of Sendmail, Python instead of Perl, Debian instead of Red Hat, MacOS instead of Windows, Camino instead of Firefox. But if the mainstream OS is Windows, and Windows sucks, then something else needs to move into that space – and devotion to being “alternative” means one is forever marginal by definition.
Over on the Well there’s an ongoing discussion about the factors that will determine Linux’s success (or lack thereof) in the desktop market. Especially the non-geek desktop market. I’ve been touting Ubuntu Linux as one of the most hopeful signs.
One of the things I like about Ubuntu for new users is that they’ve boiled things down to one app in each category, so the user doesn’t have to evaluate multiple unfamiliar applications and criteria they don’t understand just to, say, view a web page. That’s an important first level to get people in the door. Then later, when they’re curious, you show them how easy it is to add new apps (with a good package system like Debian’s, it’s easier than in Windows or OS X, which I think is an undersold point).