It's the end of the desktop era

[Amedee Van Gasse]

On 10-04-10 19:14, Johnneylee Rollins wrote:
> On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 2:30 AM, Amedee Van Gasse
> <amedee-ubuntu at amedee.be>  wrote:
>> On 10-04-10 05:41, Fred A. Miller wrote:
>>> Despite all the efforts of Canonical and Ubuntu, desktop Linux remains a
>>> non-factor n the market.
>>>
>>> http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=6216&tag=nl.e539
>>>
>> <quote>
>> But Android phones run Linux. Chromium netbooks will run Linux. Meego
>> phones are Linux. Handheld Linux is going strong, and those applications
>> will filter into other types of devices over time.
>>
>> It’s not just the dream of desktop Linux that’s ending. It’s the desktop
>> era.
>> </quote>
>>
>> I'm a happy Milestone user.
>
> I agree, as far as the progress towards mobility.
> I don't think the desktop will end terribly soon, at least for
> developers and designers. I love my dual screens and the comfortable
> office space I've made in my home to run my business. But for the
> average end user, I think that ubuntu as a desktop and even laptop
> operating system, has it's days numbered. I even agreed that I have to
> break down and get a cell phone, and I'm definitely going to get
> something that comes with linux or something I can put linux on.

I have a Motorola Milestone (aka Droid), an Android device, and as we 
all know, Android is based on Linux. A lot has already been written 
about the kernel fork so I won't go into that, but look at the bigger 
picture. The Android OS *is* a Linux.
I was at DroidCon Brussels last week, where somebody from Google said 
that Android was expected to go over the iPhone in terms of sold devices.
It's expected (predicted by Gartner) that by 2012 Symbian (Nokia) will 
be the n°1 popular platform worldwide, Android comes second, Blackberry 
will fall from 2 to 5, iPhone on 3 and WinMobile on 4.

I am very happy with my Milestone. I use it for casual surfing and 
twitterering in front of the tv, two things that until a month ago I did 
on my netbook (Acer Aspire One with Crunchbang Linux, an Ubuntu 
derivate). I have just used it as a groceries list with the OurGroceries 
app, and my wife (who is volunteering at the opening of a regional 
museum annex tourist office annex café) can check in real time if I have 
everything that we need and she can even add new items in real time.
I don't know yet if that is a good or a bad thing... :-D