Is There Really Freedom in Linux Land?

Recently, I wrote a blog titled "One Desktop To Rule Them All", in which I advocated making GNOME KDE the desktop of choice for Linux. One desktop for Linux is not a new idea; in fact, many people have advocated that for Linux in order to better compete with bloated Windows, and OSX which you almost have to be rich to run, because their computers are so terribly over-priced.

I published this blog at a Linux Forum, which shall remain nameless, and started reading the reactions I got. One of my conclusions was that some Linux folks are just big babies, who can't stand it when someone expresses an idea contrary to their long-held beliefs.

Linux, they say, is about freedom and choice. However, where the rubber meets the road, it would seem that choice magically disappears for some Linux folks. They get all worked up and attack you personally, accusing you of saying things you didn't even say, and even tell you to move on to another forum, 'cause they don't want to hear what you've got to say. Some guy even said that what I was doing was, get this, "evil". Oooooo, the Devil made me do it.

Funny, isn't it, that even these staunch advocates of freedom and choice, won't let you express your own choice. One respondent even said that if we had only one desktop on Linux, he may as well be using Windows. Holy excrement, Batman! He would prefer using Windows, which is bloated and insecure, to Linux with a KDE desktop, because I'm apparently denying the him his choice of desktops. WTF?!?!

I never denied anyone their choice of desktops. I never said there shouldn't be other desktops. What I said was that in order to dominate the desktop, we need to compete with one desktop. Another respondent accused me of "destroying Linux". Oy! Oy! Oy! I'm such a bad boy.

Some folks, whom I think are just big Linux babies, jumped to all kinds of conclusions without really understanding what I was saying. I was talking about devs getting together and FREELY choosing to opt for one desktop--my choice is KDE--and presenting a united front in order to take over the desktop. That's how Android took over mobile devices, but oddly enough I don't hear these Linux babies whining that the purveyors of Android are evil and out to destroy Linux, because they are providing basically one interface for mobile devices.

Like the battle over systemd, involving Lennart Poetering--minus the death threats he got, which I didn't--it was a learning experience. I learned that no matter how nice sounding some people's words are, they will end up shitting on you if you happen to disturb their little corner of reality. Don't rock the boat.

On a more positive note, many wrote that while they didn't agree with this idea, they thought I had every right to express it on a public forum and that there was nothing wrong with that. To them I say: "you personify what Linux is all about."

grgaud