oneline article: "Debian Alliance on The Horizon"

[Ed Cogburn]

Jeff Waugh wrote:

> <quote who="Ed Cogburn">
> 
>> On a serious note, this just demonstrates that Debian the organization is
>> still only interested in Debian as a Server OS, and continues to explain
>> and justify the existence of Ubuntu.  Debian is Debian for servers and
>> sysadmins, Ubuntu is Debian for everyone else, and as long as Debian the
>> organization remains hostile/indifferent to a Debian for end-users,
>> Ubuntu will live long and prosper(*)...
> 
> Check the recent Ubuntu Foundation announcement... 6.04 will have a five
> year support lifecycle. Quick hint: Desktops don't need five year support
> lifecycles. :-)


I never said Ubuntu isn't interested in the enterprise, I know it is, and
that will become increasingly evident as Ubuntu's user base increases.
Ubuntu however is still primarily known as a desktop distro, and that is at
least its primary focus at the moment.  As Canonical gets bigger that will
change of course.  No hint necessary.  :)  This is, in fact, one of the
reasons I believe the Debian folk are underestimating the impact Ubuntu
will have on Debian.  If Ubuntu can gain traction on the desktop side, it
will be *much* easer for them to translate their success onto the server
side, rather than vice versa.  Some of the more ardent Debian fan-boys seem
oblivious to that.


>> (*) I still wish the Ubuntu folk hadn't chosen to restrict Ubuntu to just
>> one desktop environment, which just limits Ubuntu's potential market in
>> the long run (but not in the short term).
> 
> Note that the Kubuntu KDE packages are all in Ubuntu main.


Which means nothing of course if KDE isn't officially supported by Ubuntu
and available as an official option to GNOME.  That's what I was referring
to.


> I'd disagree with your assessment though -> short term, having Ubuntu and
> Kubuntu is good for our market share,


Except that Kubuntu isn't officially supported by Canical, if it were, it
wouldn't need its own name.  :)  In the short term the KDE users created
Kubuntu so they stay with Ubuntu, but in the long term, sans offical
support, Canonical is leaving the door open for another KDE based distro to
take its KDE users away.  Not saying it will happen or is even likely,
Ubuntu has a lot more going for it than just the DE it uses, but the
difference between unofficial and official support does leave the door open
for, as an example, one of the MEPIS variants (Debian-based, KDE as their
default, free and Free), as well as the possibility of one of the KNOPPIX
variants suddenly taking center stage (SymphonyOS as an interesting
example, though its still beta).


> because it still matters. Long term, it's going to become far less
> relevant (and require more work with a vastly lower ROI).


This only makes sense if you see KDE's mindshare as shrinking.  If you're
right here, then it makes perfect sense to officially ignore KDE.  I said
the exact opposite however because I believe KDE's mindshare will increase
over time, not decrease.  :)  I believe that because I simply don't see
GNOME as being able to satisfy everyone, and less folk as time goes on,
given that it doesn't seem to have any coherent vision directing its
future, its future direction seems to be only whatever Red Hat wants it to
be, but RH is only interested in the corporate desktop, not end-users....


> Just my personal opinion, of course. :-) 


As is mine above, admittedly, and my only "evidence" is anecdotal and/or
personal, which means its worth no more than the paper this is written
on.  :)

Time will tell.