2004 Wont Be the Year of the Linux Desktop

I use a Linux desktop every day. Specifically, I run SuSE Linux Professional 9.0 with KDE 3.1.4. On top of that, I use Mozilla 1.5 for my Web browsing, OpenOffice 1.1 for my word processing and spreadsheets, and Gaim 0.74 for my instant messaging needs. For those times I need a Windows program, usually PhotoShop and Quicken, I use NeTraverses Win4Lin to run them on a Windows 98SE virtual machine.

For me, it works great. But I know Linux like the back of my hand. So do most people who use Linux desktops today. For most corporate knowledge workers, though, the Linux desktop still isnt good enough.

Its not that most company employees couldnt pick up Linux. They could. This isnt the 1980s when the big *nix desktop choice was between the Bourne shell and the C shell. Today, KDE and GNOME are both fine graphical user interface choices.

The real Linux desktop adoption issue for businesses is whether the Linux desktop is enough of a win over legacy desktops to cost-justify the move. Today, for most companies, its not.

Thats because corporate IT departments still need to put the pieces of the desktop together for their users. Do you use KDE or GNOME? OpenOffice, StarOffice or just go straight to the whole Java Desktop System? Mozilla or Konqueror?

Linux fans love to debate these issues. CIOs, however, dont want a debate. They just want to make a decision that will work for all their users, and that comes with strong external support.

Many Linux people—who love to argue about the technical virtues of their favorite GUI—still dont get this. Trust me, guys, businesses dont even care.

A prime example of this kind of conflict between programmers who want to be right and business users needs is the fuss between Bruce Perens and KDE supporters over Perens UserLinux. Perens gets that businesses want a best-of-breed desktop Linux that doesnt require much installation or support effort. The KDE fans dont get this point at all. They insist that UserLinux must include KDE as well as GNOME.

Read "UserLinux Desktop Fuss Continues."

Wrong. Most businesses dont want to maintain and support two entirely different GUIs. For them, supporting both KDE and GNOME is a complete waste of time and money.

If the KDE fans really want to do their cause credit, they should stop trying to shoehorn KDE into Perens GNOME-based Linux and build their own Debian-based Linux with a KDE interface. After all, this is Linux. Anyone can build his own distribution. Then it would be the business customers, not programmers, whod make the final choice between KDE and GNOME-based desktop Linuxes.

Next page: Linux desktop edges closer.