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this post was submitted on 22 May 2024
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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It's not like anything he says is a secret:
https://www.linuxfoundation.org/ 900 open source projects 3M+ developers trained
It's right there on the front page.
Linux foundation never supported desktop development, and I suspect they have their reasons. Maybe that a GUI is a very subjective thing, there are dozens of desktops, supporting one would probably cause major wrath from everybody else, so if Linux Foundation were to support the desktop, they'd have to support all. But Gnome has often shown to be hostile to outside influence, so maybe they don't really care to mess with that. KDE is based on QT, and maybe the QT dual license isn't within the scope of Linux Foundation to support? So with the biggest desktops being somewhat problematic, maybe it's better to just leave it alone.
The real question IMO is why Linux desktop doesn't have better support from other foundations? Why aren't any of them able to attract more financial support?
Personally I liked Gnome 2, and I think Gnome did a lot of harm to Linux when they deprecated it before Gnome Shell was ready, and I think Gnome alienated many users with the design decisions of Gnome shell.
Then the problem is that almost every GUI Desktop on Linux is based on some flavor of GTK which is under Gnome, or based on QT with the dual license.
Personally I don't mind the dual license of QT, but many Linux developers are very idealistic, and don't like it.
The other issue is that they switched their LGPL license from v2 to v3.
Fair points but I still think there's one "desktop" project they host that should not only be supported and get fundings, but be one of their top priorities: Servo.
I think it's crucial not only for the Linux desktop but for the future of the open web. It's has the potential to be a great web renderer engine (it's built atop Rust) and, with good support and development, in the middle-long haul it could be a serious, community-driven alternative to the hegemony of Chrome/Chromium.
After Mozilla ditched it due to the abhorrent administration they had, it went to The Linux Foundation. Afaik there's no more paid people working on it nor working on it full time as it was when it was under Mozilla. With its enormous funding it's insane that Servo has to look out for its own fundings.