Bruce Byfield

When the Asus Eee PC was first released two years ago, its operating system was GNU/Linux. Now, if the local stores are any indication of global trends, it’s hard to find an Asus notebook that doesn’t run Windows. Technically, you can still get them with GNU/Linux, but the company’s product page only announces the fact […]

You might imagine that an application for desktop notes would be too commonplace to generate controversy. Yet when Hubert Figuiere created Gnote, a port of the GNOME application Tomboy to C++, controversy erupted immediately. Tomboy, you see, is written in Mono, an implementation of Microsoft’s .NET that many fear is patent-encumbered, and might be used […]

The last sixteen months have been intense for the KDE desktop. The release of KDE 4.0 brought a user revolt that was only partly subdued by the 4.1 release, and did not completely quiet down until the 4.2 release last January with its emphasis on usability. Now, with the release of the KDE 4.3 beta, […]

According to NetApplications, GNU/Linux now accounts for 1.02% of computer desktops. Depending on your outlook, this figure is cause for cautious celebration, or equally cautious dismissal of the operating system’s prospects. Alternatively, you might prefer — as I do — to question the statistic’s accuracy, and look at other ways to estimate GNU/Linux’s presence. The […]

According to NetApplications, GNU/Linux now accounts for 1.02% of computer desktops. Depending on your outlook, this figure is cause for cautious celebration, or equally cautious dismissal of the operating system’s prospects. Alternatively, you might prefer — as I do — to question the statistic’s accuracy, and look at other ways to estimate GNU/Linux’s presence. The […]

With the first release in 2004, Ubuntu established itself as one of the most user-friendly GNU/Linux distributions available. Since then, each release has reaffirmed this reputation, although recent versions have coasted a little. However, with the supposedly improved notifications system in the recently-released Jaunty Jackalope (aka 9.0.4), Ubuntu unintentionally raises a new issue in usability […]

Aaron Seigo is one of the most public faces of the KDE desktop. Not only is he a long-time developer, but, for the past three years, he has been president of KDE e.V., the German non-profit that handles the project’s financial and legal affairs. He is also an articulate blogger and public speaker who combines […]

Last summer, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of the Ubuntu distribution and of Canonical, Ubuntu’s commercial sponsor, challenged the free and open source software (FOSS) to deliver a desktop experience superior to Apple’s. Now in the process of introducing the first steps in meeting this challenge, recently Shuttleworth took the time to talk to Datamation about […]

In the 1958 movie The Horse’s Mouth, Alec Guinness plays an artist who takes over a luxury flat so he can paint on its wall while its owners are on vacation. After reducing the flat to shambles, he looks at his finished mural and says quietly, “It’s not what I meant. Not the vision I […]

Nobody questions whether Mac OS X is ready for the desktop. Never mind that switching to it involves learning different assumptions and tools and a new desktop. It has a reputation for being user-friendly, and is backed by a proprietary company, just like Windows. With GNU/Linux, however, the story is different. For over a decade, […]