xml-dev - Re: CORBA's not boring yet. / XML in an OS?

[Robb Shecter <shecter@darmstadt.gmd.de>]

Tyler Baker wrote:

> Robb Shecter wrote:
>
> ... I think it's not extreme to predict
> > that in 2-3 years Linux (with KDE or GNOME) will have broken out of the hacker-only world, and
> > onto the desktop.
>
> ... I am not so sure about your latter statement though.  That is
> more a function of marketing than anything.  Linux is a lot easier to install and is a lot easier
> to use, but it still is not what I would consider "dumb" enough for the masses who use Windows 98
> and the IMac.
>

I can see this.

I think that the number of "dumb" masses is diminshing, though.  There was an -excellent- article a
couple of years back in CACM: "The Anti-Mac Interface".  The authors' premise was that when the Mac
was first made, it was the perfect interface.  It was developed for people who had never used a
computer before, and who would manage several applications and a few dozen documents.

However, that doesn't work anymore for the new generation of computer users:  They are growing up with
a Nintendo in their hands, and want to use a computer to manipulate dozens of applications, and
thousands of documents.

In this environment, WYSIWYG breaks down to "what you see is all you get".  It essentially sends us
back to pre-civilization when, instead of using language, we had to just point with a finger.  In this
new context, and with KDE getting easier to use, the Linux era will be starting sooner rather than
later.

I also think that this implies that we shouldn't be afraid to make "complex" solutions.

But anyhow, I do share some of your scepticism, and will be -extremely- happy if Linux can go where
only Windows and Mac are today.

- Robb


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