It would seem that the upcoming release of Microsoft's Windows Vista does not seem like a good thing for the desktop Linux community. After all, this update to Windows XP is going to focus on two attributes which have pushed users to Linux for years- security and stability. Upon closer inspection though, the move to Vista may be the perfect time for the Linux community to make headway on the desktop and increase its user base dramatically. The number of features which Microsoft has cast aside since Longhorn and the hardware requirements of Vista have set the stage for a large scale move to desktop Linux. 
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Member since:Gobolinux, the distro that gets it right in terms of usability? From the Gobolinux FAQ:
"Is it a newbie-oriented distribution?
No, it is not. It is geared towards people who prefer to install applications from the original source packages."
Hmm, doesn't sound like the kind of usability the mainstream is going for. More like the kind of thing an ex Slackware user would go for.
Member since:2005-06-29
Gobo gets it right for at least with trying to innovate a new directory structure. But there are problems in Goboland. There's basically not enough manpower to really polish it and things like MakeRecipe have problems with not knowing the minimum version of dependencies because it uses ldd to figure that out. Check out foresight linux for a new package system that is pretty interesting. I wish gobo would adopt it to their directory structure.
It would be great for someone with deep pockets to take a hold of gobo and really shake things up, but I just don't see that happening.
Member since:
2005-07-20
There is one thing that Linux developers avoid as long as there has been Linux. Desktop wise Usability. There is only one exception to this:
http://www.gobolinux.org/
These guys got things right. Big boys should learn from them. If a small team of developers was able to make such great changes why can't SUSE or Fedora or Ubuntu make such an effort.