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Linux Special: No sex please, we're arguing over Linux GUIs

By Jon Bernstein

Published: Tuesday 25 May 1999

Forget the England rugby captain. Forget the son of the heir to the throne's lover. In a nutshell, forget drug scandals. In the world of online publishing only two things sell: sex and Linux. Given that we're unlikely to see a sex scandal involving open source developers any time soon - they're too busy championing world beating technology to indulge in anything so trivial - the sure-fire way to provoke a reaction is to pen a piece vaguely critical of Linux.

Write it, publish, sit back and watch the feedback clog up the editorial inbox.

Last week, Silicon.com dared open a discussion on the one potential fault line in the (until now) cosy Linux community. In an analysis entitled 'Nice back-end, shame about the interface', we explored the possibility that a lack of consensus over a graphical user interface (GUI) could result in a split within the Linux fraternity. We've seen similar splits harm Java and, more pertinently, Unix.

In the words of CSL Consultancy analyst Clive Longbottom: "This is the one thing that can split the Linux community. There are about 20 different interfaces with differing front-ends with different capabilities, and this stops corporate take-up."

Not true, according to a number of our readers. For them, this argument is symptomatic of an industry that judges an operating system by the box it comes in. "The only reason for a person to think the GUI interface is a Linux issue is because they've been trained to believe the interface is the computer," wrote one subscriber. "KDE, Gnome, FVWM, CDE etc. are not Linux. On the other hand, MS Windows 'is' its GUI interface."

Unfortunately, to many, many desktop users, the interface IS the computer. That's certainly the case in the corporate environment where the demand for easy to use technology is greater than the demand for the latest bells and whistles. This is not to devalue the benefits of Linux. It has many virtues, including one very near the top of the corporate wish list - namely speed of transaction.

However, any advantage will go to waste unless corporate purchasers can offer their users an intuitive and unified front-end. You shouldn't expect those that use technology as a means to an end to encounter a different environment just because they are working from a different desk. It was a lesson that the brains of Xerox Parc taught Apple, which in turn taught Microsoft. It's time to swallow some pride and take a borrowed lesson from Microsoft.

The last word in Silicon.com's week devoted to Linux belongs to Computer Science Master's Wes Taylor, who wrote: "I think that the Linux developers, even of Gnome and KDE, are missing the crucial point when trying to understand the basic computer user. For the vast majority of these users, the computer is a tool that they expect to make their jobs and lives easier. They want to use the computer with as little thought to how the programs work as you probably would give to how the engine or brakes in a car work when you climb in to drive it. Or at least until something goes wrong."

The inbox awaits...