Re: Reverting to GNOME for jessie's default desktop
On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 05:17:10PM -0700, Octavio Alvarez wrote:
>
> That's why I see GNOME 3 as a tablet environment. I'd love to use a
> tablet with GNOME 3. But using it in a desktop just reduces the
> communication between me and my computer. What is Debian?
This is actually the core (hidden) question which I think is driving
the whole debate. Ignoring the claims of Debian as the "universal
operating system", what audience does Debian what to target by default
in its installer?
Is it the power user? Is it developers? Is it the typical users I've
seen on Launchpad, such that I've largely stopped dealing with bug
reports there --- far too many Ubuntu users can't file a proper bug
report, and then other Ubuntu users Google their symptoms, and drop in
irrelevant observation for problems that superficially have the same
symptoms, but are about something else entirely?
If you want Debian to target people who like Windows 8, or maybe Mac
OS, then GNOME or Unity is the right default DE. If you don't care
about servicing the needs of your current user base, and instead want
to chase after (hopefully) potentially new users, the way the GNOME
project has done, by all means, go with GNOME.
I have a slight bias towards XFCE, but honestly, it's for primarily
selfish reasons --- I don't want the sort of bug reports that
Launchpad gets; the vast majority of bugs filed with the BTS are by
people with whom I can work with to fix bugs, and as a result packages
such as e2sprogs get better for everyone. And so very selfishly, I
don't want that signal to get drowned out by the noise which is
Launchpad, and so I'd prefer that Ubuntu continue to target the
Windows 8 and Mac OS user market.
It may be that Debian would like to go after the same thing. If so,
I'll be sad, but given that I can always install some other DE, at the
end of the day it doesn't make that much difference to my personal
workflow, since I can always override the default.
Cheers,
- Ted
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