If you could blot one thing from the face of the planet...

• Desktop pontificating
• OS/2

Dead Horse that Needs to Be Shot Once More: mph

I'd like the desktop pontificating to end. Now.

Most Linux enthusiasts I talk to are pretty straight on how they feel about this issue: it would be nice to see Linux spread into the desktop market (with a lot of caveats about not sacrificing stability, flexibility, choice, or security.)

In the past three months or so, though, a cottage industry in opinionating about assorted facets of this issue has sprung up, and it's already old, if only because the assorted feedback loops that shape what people are willing to say have taken hold, and not much new is being discussed or argued. Writing on this issue is a quick ticket to gratifying flames for desktop contrarians, and a sure-fire way to have an opinion that won't involve getting flamed or maligned for those who choose to argue its inevitability. It has become a terrible, absurd litmus test of one's "loyalty" to Linux.

I don't mean to take anything away from the people working hard to make the Linux desktop a better place to work. I benefit from those efforts, as do many, and by calling for a halt to the endless editorials and opinion columns about how desktop dominance, I'm not trying to downplay the usefulness or importance of their work. But no one is saying much new, the positions are staked out, and there surely must be something else to talk about.

dep replies: Is this your way of telling me that my column will now appear only once a month?

bkp replies: I thought he was telling me not to be a cheerleader again. And I just got those new pom-poms...

Dead Horse that Needs to Be Shot Once More: bkp

Linux being ready for the desktop stories. I know, I have contributed to this barrage of overly optimistic stories in the past, but Linux desktop applications are not ready for a business user's needs.

There are a few bright stars, but as a whole? Not for a while, folks.

dep replies: What? A SuSE lover who says Linux isn't ready for the desktop?

Dead Horse that Needs to Be Shot Once More: dep

OS/2.

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