On Thursday 11 May 2006 06:49 pm, Peter Nikolic wrote:

I have not had chance to read the article yet but in the long run if SuSe/Novell drop KDE then a lot of people will drop SuSe the question then becomes the loosers us cus we dumped SuSe of them cus they lost us as customers and then do they even care .

We won't be the losers, because what are we really losing when we lose a Gnome-centric distro? As far as SuSE losing customers, I don't think they care much about losing individual home desktop users. The business market is what really counts for making money. What amazes me is that business customers tolerate Gnome year after year. Think of all the Red Hat desktops out there in business for example, presumably running Gnome.

If they are going to become totaly Gnomecentric then i am on my bike that instant to and KDEcentric distro as Gnome suks very badly..

I doubt they will ever be totally Gnomecentric to the point of excluding KDE. However, I do predict KDE will be the neglected stepchild while Gnome gets all the attention and promotion. Bryan *************************************** Powered by Mepis Linux 3.4-3 KDE 3.5.2 KMail 1.8.3 This is a Microsoft-free computer Bryan S. Tyson bryantyson@earthlink.net ***************************************

On Thursday 11 May 2006 03:49 pm, Peter Nikolic wrote:

On Thursday 11 May 2006 22:53, Kevanf1 wrote:

...

I mentioned an interview with one of the marketing guys from SuSE/Novell recently. This was in conjunction with ongoing debate about whether SuSE/Novell are dropping Gnome or not.

Well, read the article yourselves now and make your own minds up. See if you conclude the same as I did and think that KDE will be dropped at some point.

I have not had chance to read the article yet but in the long run if SuSe/Novell drop KDE then a lot of people will drop SuSe the question then becomes the loosers us cus we dumped SuSe of them cus they lost us as customers and then do they even care .

If they are going to become totaly Gnomecentric then i am on my bike that instant to and KDEcentric distro as Gnome suks very badly..

From reading the article (thanks, Kevin) and reading the posts here, I can now understand what Novell's motivation/postion is. It makes perfect business sense to follow the leader (Red Hat) in terms of competing on an apples-apples basis in the corporate desktop world. In addition, it mentioned that Ubuntu has a Gnome-based business offering ready or in the works. Hence, there are already two major distributions focused on Gnome. Why not join them? As Greg says when asked why they chose Gnome, "when you look around the major distributions you see that Gnome is the choice for the standard desktop. So Novell had a chance to do one of two things: we could ether turn the whole industry into a Gnome vs KDE debate or we could choose Gnome and take the debate off the table...we've made this decision to try to clarify for the community, for our enterprises, and for our hardware and software vendors [which desktop] to certify their stuff on." The way I read that is Novell has decided on Gnome in order to put a more solid competitive front against RedHat, Microsoft and any other enterprise desktop vendors. Fair enough. I may still think Gnome stinks and that Red Hat, Ubuntu and Novell are seriously misguided in their decision to support the desktop, but at least they have stood up and told us - the community - where they stand and where they're going. It may very well come to pass that KDE begins to focus on the home market (Mandriva, Xandros, Lindows) and Gnome developers focus on the business market (Novell, Ubuntu, Redhat) in order to gain against the entrenched competition. So be it. I can use KDE at home and Gnome at work. No reason I can't launch KMail at work or Evolution at home. As one who uses KDE, I'll continue to support it and advocate its use over Gnome. In addition, I will do my best to help support anyone who is planning on upgrading from Windows XP/Vista to Linux regardless of their choice of desktop manager. Who knows, maybe I'll even get of my rear and start coding the GUMP project I've been thinking of. (GNOME Usability MDI Project) Of course, I still need to finish my existing projects....sigh.... ...okay back to Wesnoth! I really think Konrad has the hots for Li'sar. :P -- kai - www.perfectreign.com www.filesite.org - the FileNet user community 43...for those who require slightly more than the answer to life, the universe and everything.

--- Peter Van Lone wrote:

...

[my response] There is a world of difference between saying that Gnome will be 'default' and 'KDE is being dumped'. Marketing hype is always hard to discern... but this hype is nothing more than that. KDE is important and Novell knows that. Novell knows that KDE is important to me... and

On 5/11/06, Mark H. Harris wrote: that's important to Novell.

...

<I hope>

I agree ... more smoke where there is no fire. Good god. At some point talking about this begins to seem like chickens pracing about the barnyard ... it's ridiculous.

If the desktop you prefer is no longer supported or offered in a quality way, you will find another distro. We get it.

I think the notion that KDE will be dropped or marginalized in any real way is simply paranoia. Maybe I am right, maybe not. But I am not going to hold my breath nor lose any sleep.

And frankly, my major concern is less for "the KDE" than it is for real choice in marketplace.

I support linux not because it is my religion, and not because it is clearly the superior OS (which it is in some ways and is not in others) but because I think it is important to have a choice other than windows. It's important to me personally, and professionally as well.

If a gnome-based desktop can become attractive enough that companies want to buy and deploy it, and to hire me and my peers to support that effort, than I will be very very happy. And, despite that thus far in my "noobie education" I have bonded with KDE more easily than gnome (despite "liking the look" of gnome better), I will learn gnome. But personally use KDE, at least for now.

Much like now, I use SUSE personally (And more and more professionally) but the majority of my customers use windows and netware.

Lets lose some of the religion, make our own choices about things, and proactively support linux in it's varieties. Secularism is the watch-word. Secular governments protect the rights of citizens to choose a religion. A secular approach to desktops preserves choice while promoting linux generally.

Very well said choice and peace is what everyone wants in the end. The problem is that Linux and everything with it makes you passionate about your choices. Truth be told there is nothing perfect especially in software and only the quest for perfection counts...and this is maybe where our choices and passions lie ... ;) regards, george

P

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