On Sunday 25 March 2007 07:38 John Locke wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Mar 2007 05:45:02 +0100, Roy Schestowitz
> <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>What Should You Expect from Ubuntu 7.04
>>
>>,----[ Quote ]
>>| In conclusion, expect a LOT of new features and changes from this new
>>| version of Ubuntu, expect improve boot speed and faster applications
>>| starting. Please enjoy some more screenshots from both Kubuntu (with
>>| the Oxygen icon theme) and Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn Beta release.
>>`----
>>
>>http://news.softpedia.com/news/What-Should-You-Expect-from-Ubuntu-7-04-50206.shtml
>>
>>Firefox 3 Alpha 3 released
>>
>>,----[ Quote ]
>>| The third alpha of Firefox 3 is available now and while it's
>>| still mainly oriented to get testers around the lot of work
>>| that is going on Gecko, Firefox's web page rendering engine,
>>| we can find much more interesting features here.
>>`----
>>
>>http://mozillalinks.org/wp/2007/03/firefox-3-alpha-3-released/#more-490
>
> Maybe its just me...but I get this feeling that Linux is about to come
> of age. It seems that good things keep happening on a regualr basis.
No, I don't think it's just you, and I don't think it's just the sheer
volume of Roy's posts here either, although they serve to bring it to our
attention.
My impression is that there has been for some years a race between the
tortoise and the hare, with the tortoise actually starting a bit late, but
taking the time to prepare itself properly for the race (e.g. starting with
a multi-user concept, rather than a single user and bolting bits on).
In previous stages of the race, the hare hasn't done too badly at all in
certain areas (I'm thinking particularly Ease of Use, as perceived by
Joe-6-pack), which has tended to mask areas where it has fallen behind.
The latest dash (to Vista) has seen the hare tiring considerably - 5 years?
6 years? - and (imo) for the first time yet, didn't actually draw level,
even in the areas in which it had previously "excelled"!
What now? Is the hare even going to make another dash? Can even the hare
afford to? Meanwhile (as you say) that tortoise is plodding on, with
typically 6-month release cycles...... and in my book the odds on the final
outcome are changing!
One point in all this:-
The trolls here frequently (and stupidly) tell us that Linux is used by only
0.005% or whatever of people. Whatever the real number is, I think that we
would agree that it is (comparatively) quite small, at least on the
desktop.
However, that implies to me that the number (of developers etc) working on
it is also (comparatively) quite small. If 10-times as many people used
it, significantly more (perhaps 10-times more!) would be developing.....
... so what you see, and what I believe that I see, might actually be simply
the result of increased uptake?
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