linux user

Sony has just put its Linux user base in the dust bin with its newest update that doesn't allow installing another operating system to its popular game console.

Thanks, Sony. I'm now making believe that you're going to lose market share because of this. I'm also making believe that this move is another attempt to remove Linux' competitive edge from the marketplace.

Your excuse that you, "don't want people tinkering with the system" is bogus. I think I smell a rat.

I rat that smells of rainy days, seawater and space needles.

If you weren't already familiar with the likes of GNOME, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, Enlightenment and others, what would you like to see in a Linux User Interface?

Whether you call it a desktop manager, a window manager, an XGUI or user interface; what do you think it needs to be successfully adopted for regular users instead of Mac OS or Windows?

Before you answer, assume that the end user is a non-technical person who just wants to turn on the computer and become productive right away.

I will never again refer to the Linux Desktop in any of my writings beyond this post. From now on, it's the Linux User Interface, which encompasses the likes of GNOME, KDE, LXDE, XFCE, CLI and others.

These Linux User Interfaces may be used on any Linux-enabled device.

Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, said at the LinuxCon in Portland yesterday that, "We are not the streamlined, small, hyper-efficient kernel I envisioned 15 years ago," he said.

"Our kernel is huge and bloated. Whenever we add a new feature, it only gets worse." It's time to put Linux on a diet.

What we need is a very small kernel that loads support via external files.

Nothing gets people in the Linux World riled up like comparing distributions, desktops or editors. But for the new Linux user, the whole thing is a bit confusing.

What do we tell them? Do we verbally slug it out in forums or do we offer gentle guidance to those entering the Linux jungle for the first time?

It's hard not to offer an opinion in such emotional matters. One might believe that Linux, choice of desktop and editors are religious notions instead of technical ones.

I offer the following gentle guidelines for the newbie who dares enter our sacred space. Linux is many things to many...