A few issues back, in talking about client services for Linux desktops, I mentioned the two major graphical user interfaces for Linux: GNOME and KDE. A few of you wrote in to say that you'd heard Novell was creating a new GUI for its Novell Linux Desktop package which would be a blend, a mélange, a combination of these two. So I looked into it.
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I came across an article from eWeek written by my friend Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1679393,00.asp?kc=ewnws101904dtx1k0000599) which said, in part: "Contrary to earlier reports, the Waltham, Mass.-based Novell has changed its plans and will not release a 'best of breed' Linux desktop that combines the best features from the GNOME and KDE environments... Instead, users will be offered an option for either KDE or GNOME during the installation process."
But when I spoke to Ted ("the Rev") Haeger - who was quoted extensively in the article - he thinks that Vaughn-Nichols only got half the message. As Ted and his colleague Bryan Cardoza explained to me, "Our intention was to select specific *components* from each desktop environment and make use of them in the other desktop environment. For example, the YaST application (an installation and administration tool) is the best choice for system configuration; it is qt-based (KDE) but is still the best choice if you're running GNOME."
Cardoza went on to say: "It's simply not practical to create a third desktop environment for Linux. The success of desktop environments rests in the larger community of contributors to the desktop environments and the ecosystem of developers who use them. A new, hybrid environment would be at a significant (and likely insurmountable) disadvantage. Desktop harmony is better addressed through efforts that allow for co-existence between applications from GNOME and KDE. For example, the System Tray specification from freedesktop.org allows me to create an application that will dock itself in either a GNOME or KDE panel; we've done that in NLD with our monitor resolution and network configuration applets."
Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print "Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be found at Virtual Quill.
Kearns is the author of two Network World Newsletters: Windows Networking Strategies, and Identity Management. Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these respective addresses: windows@vquill.com, identity@vquill.com .
Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books, manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing, technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail.
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