[Tfug] Why GNOME was the stupidest idea in Linux history...

[Bowie J. Poag]

GNOME beats out KDE for being the stupidest idea in Linux history only 
because KDE already existed when GNOME came along. Think of it this 
way...Which lemming is more stupid, the one that jumps off a cliff, or 
the one that sees the first one jump off a cliff, and follows him 
anyway? KDE manages to be stupid purely in it's own merits -- for 
intentionally imitating a product people hated----and then continuing to 
do so, year after year. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows XP, and now Vista.

Both projects are near-worthless when you really think about the end 
game. Massive amounts of wasted manpower were dedicated toward imitating 
one craptastic Microsoft GUI design after another over the years --- 
Designs so horrid as to prompt many of us to adopt Linux in the first 
place! Yeah, i'm bitching, but at least I tried. For years, I tried to 
open a dialogue that simply asked the GNOME and KDE development 
communities to stop and think about what they were building in the 
larger sense. No interest. Ok, how about some sort of skunk-works where 
new ideas can be test flown and incorporated? No interest. White 
papers?  Well, it at least generated some dialogue, but nothing came of 
it. Then I built Pogo. Then I built Halogen. Then I gave up. Then I 
switched to OS X. Now i'm happy.

The entire history of the Linux desktop movement boils down to this:

"Windows sucks! Lets spend the next 10 years dedicating all our energy 
toward building a desktop that works and looks just like it, but worse!" 
- Every developer that has ever worked on GNOME or KDE, ever.

10 years in, Linux now lays claim to having the "Suny" electronics, and 
the "Niky" shoes of desktop GUIs... Cheap, unstable, flea market 
knock-offs of existing designs built without forethought, and as 
projects, driven by people who were either incapable or uninterested in 
seeing more than 2 feet infront of the bumper. Linux is a great server 
OS, but as a desktop, I don't think it will ever evolve beyond being a 
toybox for enthusiasts/hackers/tinkerers.. If it were to, i'm pretty 
sure it would have already happened by now. 

Microsoft wasn't the enemy, it turns out. It was our own unwillingness 
to strap on a pair and try something different, new ideas, something 
other than a decade-long quest to create the most immaculate imitation 
of a turd possible.

Cheers,
Bowie

Matthew Patenaude wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 7:33 AM, Steve Franks <franks at rudbek.com 
> <mailto:franks at rudbek.com>> wrote:
>
>     >> By the way, GNOME was the stupidest idea in Linux history. Not
>     Wubi. :)
>     >>
>     >>
>     >
>     >
>
>     +2
>
>     Personally, I find all the cutesy icons in KDE to be even more
>     nauseating than gnome...
>
>     Ok, flame me now ;)
>
>     Steve
>
>
> I have to confess the anti-Gnome thing seems strange to me. I have 
> installed Kubuntu and others to see the new KDE, and I am familiar 
> with the older 3.5, and I always go back to Gnome. I am presently very 
> happy with Ubuntu Jaunty.
>
> Is the fuss about it not attracting more Windows-accustomed users, or 
> what? Gnome just has always been a better fit for me. I really like 
> it, so
> - 1
>
> Hahahaha! :)
>
> Matthew
>
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