Linux desktop lacks innovation

[Peter Garrett]

On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:51:42 -0600
"Tommy Trussell" <tommy.trussell at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 11/13/07, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Not sure if folks hereabouts saw this. I had hoped for more
> > constructive comment and criticism than I got. Even the legal eagles
> > at Groklaw missed my point and dismissed it as a troll.
> >
> > http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/11/02/linux-innovation-missing
> 
> Thank you for a thought-provoking article. It's too bad people are
> skimming and dismissing it rather than recognizing it for what it is.
> 
It's certainly an interesting article.

[snip]
> Standard Ubuntu looks and feels like Windows in some specific, patent
> protected ways. So Microsoft may have a case against it.

I think there are a few aspects of this that need consideration:

1) Not all countries subscribe to the ridiculous notion that software is
patentable, thank goodness. MS might win in the USA, but they are just
playing whack-a-mole, because you cannot stop everyone, and there are
multiple ways to do anything, anyway...

2) Free and open software will route around any attempts to kill it.
People will simply change their software and keep rolling...

3) When the printing  revolution happened, the rich and powerful wanted to
control it. It took centuries, but in the end all that has become largely
meaningless - these days anyone with a computer and an Internet connection
can be a publisher. 

At the time of the "invention" of printing, the powerful did not want
universal literacy. The rich and powerful technology pushers don't want
universal computer literacy, either.

Trying to stop this has become more or less futile, despite the legal
muscle being used to throttle it. We need a new paradigm for practically
every form of expression, and fundamental changes in the way we view
copyright, trademarks and patents. They are becoming irrelevant in their
old forms.

We are living in a second Gutenberg revolution: we are winning, and I
doubt that the old ways can survive.

Peter

-- 
"INX Is Not X" based on Ubuntu 7.04 Live CD: http://inx.maincontent.net
Screenshots slideshow: http://inx.maincontent.net/album/1.png.html