Lennart Sorensen wrote:
Often enough. In my case, talking about closer to 100 Debian servers, but only one Debian desktop, and even there X is only started now and then, in case all Windows desktops fail (okay, thats not too uncommon...). Many people feel that linux is a great server environment, but not quite ready enough for the desktop. And yes, I'll agree this is greatly a matter of preference, requirements, etc - not written in stone anyway.And if Ubuntu takes hold Debian may *never* become a good choice for the desktop, that is what I fear, and that would mean abandoning Debian. :(There are many people that really don't care particularly much about desktop anything. I suspect they are often the people that make debian work. Not always but often.
This is also one of Debian's strong points. I can install a well enough functioning Debian base system without problem in 150-200 MB space, with only basic daemons running, no X stuffs or unnecessary client software of any kind at all. Compact, functional and extremely easy to maintain. Trying to do this with some other distributions is a headache and/or impossible. I know some Fedora developers might disagree with me here, but I don't think 800 MB is a "minimal installation".
I know there are people happy with Linux on the desktop. I'd very much like to see them remain happy because I will probably try it yet another time as well. More development means next time I try it I might actually not end up crying on the keyboard. I just hope a certain balance can be reached. Perfectly functioning Debian servers in critical production environments have created more smiles here than the best summer sunshine ever could.
/v\