Ubuntu moving away from X

[Jerry Feldman]

On 11/05/2010 12:29 PM, Mark Woodward wrote:
> Is anyone disappointed by Shuttleworth's decision to move Ubuntu off of=
 X?
>
> X is one of those things that I think is make unix "UNIX." The idea tha=
t=20
> I can run any application on any machine and display its output on any =

> other machine is more than cool, it is a functionality that I use and=20
> has "saved the day" on a number of occasions.
>
> If there are things that X can't do, then improve it. Don't get rid of =
it.
>  =20
In a way I somewhat agree. I do a lot of X over IP. I don't care if a
new product replaces X as long as the functionality remains. I also go
back to the pre-X days of Unix, and it is the command line and the
ability to bind commands together and just the richness of the
environment that makes Unix Unix. The beauty of X is that it has a
protocol that separates the client from the server and the X server from
the OS. Pure X applications are fairly old and lack functionality.

The bottom line is that Linux competes with Windows. We have seen
changes to make our displays more Windowish. But, we are now in the
netbook age where the vendors need to deliver a lot of functionality on
a slower processor.

I think that more of what Shuttleworth is saying is that X (meaning
x.org) is not going to deliver the features he wants. That does not mean
that X cannot deliver the features. One must view Ubuntu and friends as
more of a corporate environment where the directions come from
Shuttleworth. The political issue is who is going to drive x priorities.

--=20
Jerry Feldman <gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
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